Portuguese Journal of Public Health最新文献

Background: Head and neck cancer (HNC) has a considerable mortality and morbidity rate. Surgery is one of the most effective treatments; however, it may compromise the independence of patients after its performance. Early start rehabilitation is essential for the recovery of these patients, preventing functional capacity limitations.

Objective: The objective of this study was to compare the independence between hospitalized patients who underwent rehabilitation nurse (RN) intervention versus general health care after HNC surgery.

Methods: Patients submitted to different types of HNC surgery were divided into two groups intervention by the RN versus general health care, the outcome was the independence categorized as dichotomic to assess the patient independence at discharge and their differences calculated by statistical analysis. To analyze the effect of the RN intervention on independence, a Poisson regression model was used, adjusting the confounding factors initial Barthel Index and age in the variable Barthel Index independence.

Results: Independence at discharge (p = 0.01) improved significantly in the RN intervention group compared to the general health care group. The intervention of the RN after surgery had a positive effect on the independence of the patients, after adjusting the confounding factors (RR: 1.47; 95% CI: [1.02; 2.12]). In the middle/late postoperative period, in the group with RN intervention (n = 79), the hospitalization time was reduced by 4.29 days versus general health care (n = 72).

Conclusion: The RN intervention is an added value in the independence of the patient submitted to HNC surgery. It is an innovative study in patients after diagnosis of HNC, showing that the intervention of RN through rehabilitation programs allows independence after his surgery.

Introduction: In the context of climate emergency, advances in geographic information systems, geocoding, and geomedicine allow us to go beyond the conventional usual scales and be aligned with people's needs, improving knowledge and accuracy of the spatial pattern of health outcomes. This study shows that the geographical scale of analysis affects the interpretation of health outcomes.

Methods: All mortality that occurred in Portugal in 2014-2017 was geocoded. From 435,291 addresses, 412,608 were geocoded with success. As an example, we use the spatial patterns of the elderly's heat-related cardiorespiratory mortality.

Results: It is shown: (i) it is possible to have high quality and accuracy of spatial data used in health outcomes analysis; (ii) how geographic scales reveal different degrees of detail in health outcomes analysis; (iii) the neighbourhood scale revealed different patterns of cardiorespiratory mortality from the usually available scale (parish).

Discussion: Our findings suggest the relevance of geocoding health outcomes with a finer scale in tackling the challenges of the healthcare sector, and in support of planning decision-making, closely matching citizens' needs. Without running the risk of losing potentially major prospects, better healthcare management is achievable, with optimal resource allocation, and improved detailed and informed policymaking, allowing enhanced climate health equity in cities promotion.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1159/000527366.].

Introduction: Google Trends is an online metadata platform that measures the relative search volume of every topic in online search engines. In medical settings, this behavior has been associated with active changes in people's perceptions and search for healthcare. This study aimed to evaluate the online search patterns of Portuguese extra-program and risk-based vaccination.

Methods: Analysis of the relative search volume was performed for extra-program and risk-based vaccines, in every Portuguese district between 2006 and 2021. Relative search volume was represented between 0 and 100 (highest interest in the query).

Results: Rotavirus vaccine was consistently the most searched, followed by BCG and flu, the last of which, with abnormal peaks of search in November 2009 and October 2020. We registered a significant increase in the search for every vaccine in the last 5 years (p < 0.01). Particularly, during the COVID-19 pandemic, a more abrupt increase was registered for the flu vaccine, but most importantly for BCG (3,0[69,9] vs. 9,0[528,0]). Lisboa and Porto are the only Portuguese districts where percentual research is spread across all types of vaccines. On the other hand, in Portalegre, 84% of total searches correspond to BCG.

Discussion and conclusion: The recent increase in the interest in vaccination may translate into the investment of health professionals in primary prevention measures. However, the mediatic impact of pandemics is not neglectable. Health professionals must fight misinformation as it may have happened with the increasing interest in BCG, probably due to the protective association proposed with the infection by SARS-CoV-2.

Introduction: Health literacy evaluation is considered a priority issue in the health literacy research field. The complexity of the multiple definitions of health literacy and the diversity of instruments to evaluate health literacy has become a challenge to the establishment of comparisons across different studies. This work aimed to provide a systematic literature review of the existing measurement instruments adapted or developed for different groups of the Portuguese population.

Methods: A comprehensive search of digital databases was conducted to systematize and understand the available knowledge about health literacy measurement in Portugal and to identify assessment tools and studies developed. The selection process was based on PRISMA guidelines.

Results: A total of 17 publications were analysed regarding different aspects, which resulted in the identification of 11 different instruments, that were adapted or developed to measure health literacy in different groups of the Portuguese population, mainly adults, adolescents, and young adults. Seven instruments focusing on general health literacy (including e-health), 2 on mental health literacy, and the other 2 on oral health literacy were identified.

Discussion/conclusion: This study presents the first general overview of health literacy measurement in Portugal and clearly shows that to deepen our knowledge of health literacy in the Portuguese population it is essential to broaden the scope and the target of health literacy assessment to have a comprehensive understanding that will allow transforming our reality regarding health and disease.

Self-medication is considered one of the health-risk behaviours found among adolescents. The main objective of this study is to determine the prevalence of self-medication for Portuguese adolescents. An observational cross-sectional study was carried out. The sample comprised 420 adolescents, of whom 343 (81.7%; 95% CI: 77.8-85.2) had already self-medicated and 277 (66.0%; 95% CI: 61.4-70.5) self-medicated in the last 6 months. The main health problems that motivated self-medication were headache (76.7%), flu (70.6%), sore throat (56%), and fever (54.5%). Paracetamol was the most consumed drug (86.9%) followed by ibuprofen (83.1%). The pharmacy (87.8%) was the preferred place to purchase drugs; however, 221 adolescents (64.4%) reported that they self-medicated with the medicines they had at home. Of the adolescents who resorted to self-medication, only 59.6% sought additional information about the drug and 53.9% referred to the package leaflet of the medicinal product as the main source of clarification. A significant portion of the respondents (84.3%) believed that self-medication might be acceptable to treat minor illnesses. It was observed that self-medication is a very common practice among adolescents, making it an extremely important issue to carry out more studies on this section of the Portuguese population due to the scarcity of existing ones. These data can be used to define strategies for the dissemination of the rational use of the drug in the adolescent population.