Priorities to reduce the burden of stroke in Latin American countries

The large and increasing burden of stroke in Latin American countries, and the need to meet the UN and WHO requirements for reducing the burden from non-communicable disorders (including stroke), brought together stroke experts and representatives of the Ministries of Health of 13 Latin American countries for the 1st Latin American Stroke Ministerial meeting in Gramado, Brazil, to discuss the problem and identify ways of cooperating to reduce the burden of stroke in the region. Discussions were focused on the regional and country-specific activities associated with stroke prevention and treatment, including public stroke awareness, prevention strategies, delivery and organisation of care, clinical practice gaps, and unmet needs. The meeting culminated with the adoption of the special Gramado Declaration, signed by all Ministerial officials who attended the meeting. With agreed priorities for stroke prevention, treatment, and research, an opportunity now exists to translate this Declaration into an action plan to reduce the burden of stroke.

[Local government and public dental health services: an analysis of inequality in use]

The aim of this study was to identify factors associated with the use of primary and specialized public dental health services and private services. A population-based household survey was conducted in two cities of Bahia State, Brazil. Key informants provided data on socioeconomic variables and use of dental health services. Organization of the local public dental health service was ranked as worse versus better. Univariate and multivariate polytomous logistic regression was performed. Of the total of 1,290 individuals, 38.76% used private services, 33.80% used public primary care, and 17.29% used both primary care and the Center for Dental Specialties. Less use of both primary care and specialized public services was associated with lower education (OR = 1.47; 95%CI: 1.03-2.10) and worse organization of services (OR = 1.74; 95%CI: 1.22-2.48), when compared to the exclusive use of primary care. The study showed inequality in the use of dental services, even when comparing more homogeneous groups, namely users of public services.

[Inequalities in oral health care use in the primary care setting and associated factors in two Brazilian municipalities]

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the factors associated with inequality in the use of oral health services in the Brazilian Family Health Program (Estratégia Saúde da Família, ESF) as measured by dental extractions.

METHODS

A population-based household survey was carried out in two municipalities with full coverage by the ESF in the state of Bahia, Brazil. Ten census tracts were randomly selected. Households were selected by systematic sampling. To assess the use of public services by the population, a prevalence of 50%, sampling error of 4%, and confidence interval of 95% were considered. Trained community health workers conducted key informant interviews on use of oral health services and collected demographic data for all household members aged 15 years or older. Dental extraction was the main outcome. The association between dental extraction and predictive variables was assessed using prevalence ratio, and multivar logistic regression analysis was performed using odds ratio (OR).

RESULTS

Data from 2,539 people was collected. Of these, 682 (26.86%) had used primary oral health care services in the previous 12 months. Dental extraction was performed in 218 (31.96%) out of 682 primary care patients. Being assisted by social programs (OR = 1.43; IC95%: 1.02-2.01), being older than 35 years (OR = 1.59; IC95%: 1.12-2.27), and having lower education levels (OR = 1.81; IC95%: 1.27-2.56) were independently associated with the outcome.

CONCLUSIONS

The present results suggest that historical inequalities of access to oral health services persist. Intersectoral actions may play an important role in improving oral health conditions.

[Characteristics of the access and utilization of public dental services in medium-sized cities]

This cross-sectional study sought to describe the main characteristics of access and utilization of primary and specialized public dental services in two medium-sized cities in Bahia with 100% coverage of the Family Health Program. A survey of 952 households and 2.539 individuals aged over 15 years was conducted. The main variables analyzed were: perceived oral health needs, demand for the service, barriers of organizational access and the type of service and procedure utilized. The use of specialized public dental services was of 11.7% and primary care was 26%. In the city where there was greater use of public dental services, there was less use of private services. The main barrier to access remained in primary care (from 5.0% to 15.2%). There was little interface between secondary care a primary care, as only 16.6% of users returned to this level of care. In conclusion, the main barrier to access in cities with specific organizational and geographic realities appears to be in primary dental care. Individual preventive actions were little reported. It is recommended that barriers to access in primary care be eliminated, and also that a protocol (clinical guides) be established to foster the continuity and longitudinality of primary dental care.

Prevalência e severidade de fluorose em escolares do município de São Francisco do Conde-BA, 2010

OBJETIVO: O presente estudo objetivou determinar a prevalência de fluorose em escolares do município de São Francisco do Conde, região metropolitana de Salvador-BA. METODOLOGIA: Todos os escolares do 1º ao 5º ano do Ensino Fundamental, que estudavam em escolas com mais de 150 alunos matriculados, foram selecionados, totalizando 1716 escolares. O índice de Dean foi usado para medir o grau de fluorose, conforme preconizado pela OMS. RESULTADO: Foram examinadas 1474 crianças com idade entre sete e 13 anos, sendo 54,61% do gênero masculino e 55,39% residentes na zona rural. Daqueles casos que apresentaram fluorose (39,80%), 37,02% foram classificados como muito leve, 1,97% leve e 0,81% moderada. Os escolares de dez anos de idade apresentaram maior prevalência de fluorose. Não houve diferença de prevalência entre a zona rural e a urbana. CONCLUSÃO: Em função da baixa prevalência encontrada, a fluorose não constitui um problema de saúde pública no município, mas sim uma questão de vigilância sanitária e epidemiológica.