Browsing by Author "Macedo, M"
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- Exposição das crianças ao fumo ambiental do tabaco (FAT): avaliação de uma intervenção preventivaPublication . Precioso, J; Samorinha, C; Calheiros, JM; Macedo, M; Antunes, H; Campos, HTo evaluate the effectiveness of the preventative programme "Smoke-free Homes" undertaken in 4th year children and their parents or guardians, aiming to reduce children's exposure to second hand smoke (SHS) in the home. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This was a pre- and post-test pre-experimental study, in students from 32 Braga district primary schools 2007/08. A self-administered and structured questionnaire was given out to 795 students in the classroom before and after the programme. In analysing data, we used the chi-squared test for the categorical variables. RESULTS: The rate of children exposed to regular or occasional SHS due to living with at least one smoker dropped from 42.2% to 32.6% (p=0.001). The percentage of students, children of smokers who stated that their father smoked regularly or occasionally at home, dropped from 68.0% pre-test to 51.6% posttest (p=0.000). No significant reduction was seen in mothers. CONCLUSION: Based on the data, we can conclude that the "Smoke-free Homes" programme was effective in preventing smoking in the home, and therefore reducing the rate of children exposed to SHS by about 10%. However, it appears that about a third of children are still exposed, which highlights the need for further measures in this area. Healthcare professionals, particularly those working in Paediatrics, should advise parents to quit smoking, especially in the home.
- Prevalência do consumo de tabaco em adolescentes escolarizados portugueses por sexo: podemos estar otimistas?Publication . Precioso, J; Samorinha, C; Macedo, M; Antunes, HINTRODUCTION: According to the MPOWER approach adopted in 2008 by the WHO, monitoring smoking epidemics is necessary in order to assess the effectiveness of the preventive measures used in smoking control in adolescents and adults. OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence of smoking in Portuguese school-aged adolescents by region. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The sample is made up of 8764 students, 4060 boys and 4704 girls, and is representative of the Portuguese students in regular public education. The data was collected in the 2008/2009 academic year, through a quantitative self-report questionnaire. RESULTS: In the total sample, 10.2% of boys and 9.1% of girls are regular smokers. Smoking increases with age. At 15 years old 12.3% of the boys and 8.6% of the girls are regular smokers and 6.1% of the boys and 4.0% of the girls are occasional smokers. Looking at prevalence by region, the highest prevalence of regular smoking is found in Alentejo (14.7%), followed by Azores (11.8%) and the lowest is found in Algarve (4.1%). CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of smokers among Portuguese school-aged adolescents varies within the several regions of the country, similar to what happens in the adult Portuguese population.
- Prevalência do vírus da hepatite A: primeiros resultados de baixa endemicidade em PortugalPublication . Antunes, H; Macedo, M; Estrada, AThe prevalence of the hepatitis A virus in a population determines the degree of morbidity associated with this illness, that is, the higher the morbidity, the lower the prevalence. This study aims to obtain the prevalence of total antibody to the hepatitis A virus in children, 5 and 8 years of age, and in adolescents, 14 years of age. The study was based on two samples: the serum of 64 healthy five-year-olds and 76 healthy eight-year-olds living in the proximity of the São Marcos Hospital in Braga and the serum of 311 adolescents, aged 14, from a total population of 536 adolescents attending schools in Braga, North of Portugal. The samples were collected in 1999 for the adolescent group, in 2000 and 2001 for the group of the five-year-olds and in 2002 and 2003 for the group of the eight-year-olds. None of the persons involved had been vaccinated with the hepatitis A virus vaccine. The Enzyme Linked Fluorescent Assay method was used to measure the serum total antibody to the hepatitis A virus. The prevalence of total antibody to the hepatitis A virus was 1.6% at 5 years of age, [95% confidence intervals (CI), 0-4.7%]; 3.9% at 8 years of age, [95% CI, 0-8,4%]; and 32.5% at 14 years of age +/- 6 months, [95% CI, 27.3-37.7%]. The prevalence of total antibody to the hepatitis A virus in this population revealed lower natural immunity. The results obtained for the five and eight-year-olds were the first Portuguese results of low endemicity to the hepatitis A virus.
- Smoke-free homes programme : past, present and futurePublication . Precioso, J; Calheiros, J; Samorinha, C; Antunes, H; Machado, JE; Macedo, M; Bonito, J; Vitória, P; Ravara, SChildhood exposure to Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) is associated with serious health problems. Despite the recognised severity of childhood exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), several studies show high prevalence of exposed children in the world and also in Portugal. In order to protect children of this serious health hazard an ETS type preventive programme, “Smoke free-homes”, was developed and tested in Portugal. Its main purpose is to increase the number of parents who do not smoke and / or to reinforce the norm of not allowing smoking at home and in the car, enabling “participant students” to proactively promote parents’ behaviour change and effectively reduce or avoid ETS home exposure. This is a school based programme, to be applied in the classroom by teachers. A exposição das crianças ao Fumo Ambiental do Tabaco (FAT) está associada a graves problemas de saúde. Apesar da evidência científica sobre a gravidade da exposição das crianças ao FAT, muitos estudos mostram que existe uma elevada percentagem de crianças expostas ao FAT no Mundo (aproximadamente 50%) e também em Portugal (40% segundo alguns estudos realizados). Com o objectivo de proteger as crianças desta agressão, foi desenhado em Portugal o programa de prevenção denominado “Domicílios Livres de Fumo”. A sua principal finalidade é aumentar a prevalência de pais e mães que não fumam (e/ou não permitam que se fume) em casa e no carro. O programa foi desenhado para ser aplicado nas salas de aulas, pelos professores.
- Taxa de cobertura vacinal com imunização para o vírus da hepatite BPublication . Antunes, H; Macedo, M; Estrada, AThe hepatitis B virus is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in humans, thus making it a serious public health issue. The purpose of this study was to determine the hepatitis B virus vaccination rate with immunization, the risk of this population group becoming infected before vaccination and the prevalence of hepatitis B virus infection. The study involved randomly analyzing the serum of 311 adolescents of both sexes aged 14 from a total population of 536 adolescents attending schools in Braga, Portugal. A questionnaire was administered to the adolescents and asked them if they had received the Hepatitis B vaccine, how many doses they received, if they had a history of acute hepatitis, drug abuse, whether or not they had had sexual intercourse and if so, if they had used protection. The determination of the hepatitis B surface antigen (HbsAg), the antibody to HbsAg and the antibody to hepatitis B core antigen was carried out using the chemoluminiscence method. The vaccination rate with immunization was 85.8 %, [95% CI 81.9-89.7%]. The prevalence of hepatitis B virus infection was 0.6%, [95% CI 0-1.5%]. Conclusions: The prevalence of hepatitis B virus infection was low in this adolescent population of Braga. The vaccination rate with immunization is satisfactory, but does not reach 100%, which means that the risk of transmission is still present in this age group.