Portuguese Journal of Public Health最新文献

This study ascertained dental students' perceived educational experiences and attitudes toward patients with special needs at an English-speaking dental school in the Caribbean. A modified paper-based version of a previously validated survey instrument was used - Dental Students Attitudes' Towards the Handicapped Scale - on a convenience sample of all clinical students at the dental school. The instrument was composed of three parts. Part 1 collected demographic information detailing age, gender, and year of study. Part 2 collected perceived educational experiences, and part 3 collected information regarding student attitudes. Data were presented descriptively, and likelihood ratios were used on cross-tabulated data to examine attitudes between different year groups at an alpha level of 0.05. Student attitudes were generally good regarding patients with special needs. Only 41% of students felt confident treating special needs patients upon graduation. The curriculum which already includes robust didactic teaching in special needs dentistry should be supplemented with increased clinical exposure to patients with special needs during undergraduate dental education. This can lead to improvements in the attitude of dental students as well as their confidence in treatment. Earlier clinical exposure of students to patients with special needs in the clinical curriculum is required. Students should also be encouraged to comprehensively manage special needs patients, where possible within the framework of the competency-based training model.

The most basic axis of a society's economic and social growth is health, and social capital is a major factor in determining that development. The purpose of this research was to evaluate, among the student body of Iran University of Medical Sciences, the connection that exists between social capital and overall health. This study used a descriptive-analytical approach to cross-sectional research. Students attending the Iran University of Medical Sciences constituted the statistical population. The approach developed by Cochran was used to pick 367 students at random. The demographic information form, two versions of the Delaviz Social Capital Questionnaire (2006), and Goldberg and Hiller's General Health Questionnaire (1979), served as the data collection tools. Using Cronbach's alpha test, the reliability of the first two sets of questionnaires was determined to be 0.73 and 0.78, respectively. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, statistical tests, and regression after being loaded into SPSS version 22. It was shown that general health was significantly related to the factors of gender, location of living, and degree of education (p < 0.05). It was shown via the use of regression that there is a statistically significant association between social capital and the two dimensions of group involvement and relationships in networks. These two dimensions had the biggest influence on general health and explained 39% of its variations. The overall health of students was not significantly affected by factors such as age, educational level, or marital status (p > 0.05). It is feasible to improve students' overall health if social capital is increased, more students are encouraged to participate in group projects, and students' ties with one another inside and outside their networks are expanded.

Introduction: The widespread lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic was insured by Moroccan authorities in early 2020 to preserve the health of citizens. The lockdown and the pandemic imposed psychological effects on the population including anxiety. Celiac disease (CeD), a chronic disease among the most common inflammatory intestinal disorders, has been linked to adult emotional disturbances. Hence, CeD patients may suffer from anxiety or increase this condition due to the concomitant situation. The objective of this study was to assess COVID-19-related anxiety in a sample of adults with CeD in comparison with a matched healthy group.

Method: CeD patients (103) and matched healthy group (101) were investigated using a web-based COVID-19 and related lockdown anxiety survey. Anxiety was assessed with the State and Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI test: Y1 for state anxiety and Y2 for trait anxiety).

Results: State anxiety was present among 65.3% of CeD and 41.6% of the comparison group, and the difference was statistically significant. CeD women suffered more from state anxiety than their compeers in the comparison group (t = 3.23; p = 0.002), and a significant correlation between good compliance to GFD and less state anxiety was found among CeD patients (r = 0.31; p = 0.002). 61.8% of CeD participants thought they were at higher risk of contamination by COVID-19, and they were mostly women (χ² = 7.66, p < 0.006) and had significantly higher state anxiety mean scores than their compatriots who did not express these thoughts (t = 2.93; p = 0.004). Additionally, 41.5% of CeD participants had anxiety as a trait against 26.7% in the comparison group and the difference between the two groups was statistically significant.

Conclusion: Results of this survey allow a better understanding of the health-related pandemic effects on Moroccan CeD patients. It demonstrates that COVID-19 and related lockdowns had a serious impact on the psychological balance of these patients by increasing their anxiety. The survey results underlined the need to improve the psychological care of CeD patients notably by considering remote medical visits during this ongoing pandemic to provide mental health support.

Background: The relationship between exposure to asbestos and malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is already well established. Nevertheless, much remains to be known about exposure thereto and the incidence and mortality from MPM.

Objective: This systematic review aims to map the relationship between asbestos and MPM by studying the exposure to asbestos and the incidence and mortality of MPM.

Methods: A systematic review was conducted relating asbestos and MPM. Exposure to asbestos, incidence, and mortality by MPM was reviewed. PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, RCAAP, DART-Europe, and the reference lists of included studies were searched, from January 1, 1960, to December 31, 2020. Methodological quality was checked, the risk of bias analysis was performed, a level of evidence grade was assigned, and descriptive data analysis was performed.

Results: 3,484 unique citations were identified, which included seventeen observational studies that met inclusion criteria with a total of 1,104 patients. Heterogeneity is present between the included studies which range from a case series of 16 retrospective studies and 1 prospective study. Studies were mostly conducted in Europe, particularly in Italy (6), and were published between 1969 and 2020. The mean age of patients is approximately 66 years with a latency period between the first exposure and diagnosis of approximately 42 years. 14 studies present data regarding the occupational context and chrysotile and crocidolite are the most studied types of fibre. The incidence of cases occurred between the interval 1966 and 2014 and in 9 studies the mortality rate was 100% of patients.

Conclusion: There is high evidence to support the relationships between asbestos and MPM. However, the relatively scant information provided by the studies reinforces the need for well-conducted research and implementation of National Mesothelioma Surveillance Centres at a global level.

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.].