Revista de saúde pública
-
To estimate worldwide prevalence of chronic low back pain according to age and sex. ⋯ Chronic low back pain prevalence increases linearly from the third decade of life on, until the 60 years of age, being more prevalent in women. Methodological approaches aiming to reduce high heterogeneity in case definitions of chronic low back pain are essential to consistency and comparative analysis between studies. A standard chronic low back pain definition should include the precise description of the anatomical area, pain duration and limitation level.
-
Revista de saúde pública · Jan 2015
Impact of long-stay beds on the performance of a tertiary hospital in emergencies.
To assess the impact of implementing long-stay beds for patients of low complexity and high dependency in small hospitals on the performance of an emergency referral tertiary hospital. ⋯ Implementing long-stay beds increased the number of patients treated in tertiary care, both in general and in system bottleneck areas such as Neurology and Intensive Care. The Charlson index of comorbidity is associated with the chance of patient death or return to tertiary care, even when adjusted for possible confounding factors.
-
Revista de saúde pública · Jan 2015
Dengue vaccines: what we know, what has been done, but what does the future hold?
Dengue, a disease caused by any of the four serotypes of dengue viruses, is the most important arthropod-borne viral disease in the world in terms of both morbidity and mortality. The infection by these viruses induces a plethora of clinical manifestations ranging from asymptomatic infections to severe diseases with involvement of several organs. ⋯ Here, we describe briefly the vaccine candidates available and their ability to elicit a protective immune response. We also discuss the problems and possibilities of any of the vaccines in final development stage reaching the market for human use.
-
Revista de saúde pública · Jan 2015
Economic crisis and counter-reform of universal health care systems: Spanish case.
The economic crisis that has been affecting Europe in the 21st century has modified social protection systems in the countries that adopted, in the 20th century, universal health care system models, such as Spain. This communication presents some recent transformations, which were caused by changes in Spanish law. Those changes relate to the access to health care services, mainly in regards to the provision of care to foreigners, to financial contribution from users for health care services, and to pharmaceutical assistance. In crisis situations, reforms are observed to follow a trend which restricts rights and deepens social inequalities.