Universidade de Pernambuco

About: Universidade de Pernambuco is a education organization based out in Recife, Brazil. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Medicine. The organization has 6147 authors who have published 6948 publications receiving 73648 citations.

Osmophobia and Headaches in Primary Care: Prevalence, Associated Factors, and Importance in Diagnosing Migraine.

Abstract: Objectives The aims of this study were to investigate the prevalence of osmophobia among primary headaches, evaluate the association between osmophobia and the characteristics of patients and their headaches, and assess the usefulness of this symptom for diagnosing migraine. Methods This was a cross-sectional study in a primary care unit. Patients who consecutively sought medical attendance in a primary care unit were asked about headaches (convenience sample). Those who reported having had at least 1 episode of headache during the last 12 months were interviewed. Semi-structured interview, the Headache Impact Test, and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale were used. Results Two hundred thirty-five patients had headaches, 147 patients had migraine (53% of them had osmophobia), and 87 had tension-type headache (11.5% of them had osmophobia), and 1 patient had an unclassifiable headache. Among the headache patients, those with migraine and more years of headache history presented significantly more osmophobia (multivariate logistic regression).The sensitivity and specificity of osmophobia for establishing a diagnosis of migraine were 53.1% and 87.5%. The positive predictive value and negative predictive value were 87.6% and 52.7%. Conclusion We found high prevalence of osmophobia among migraine patients, and this complaint is useful in making the diagnosis of migraine in primary care. Osmophobia is associated with migraine and more years of headache history.

Projeto COMPAC (comportamentos dos adolescentes catarinenses): aspectos

Abstract: Several school-based epidemiological surveys have been conducted by researchers worldwide. The aim of this article is to describe the methodological aspects used in planning the COMPAC Project (Behavior of Adolescents from Santa Catarina state) carried out in 2001 and 2011. The project presents state-wide school-based epidemiological characteristics (panel study). The population included public high school students between the ages of 15 to 19 years old from Santa Catarina. The sample (n = 5,028 in 2001; n = 6,529 in 2011) was representative of the six geographic regions of the state and was done in two stages, selecting the following items: (1) schools stratified by size (large: 500 or more students; medium: 200-499, and small: fewer than 200); and (2) shifts (day and evening), randomly chosen considering the proportion of students per grade and shift. In 2001, 5,463 students took part in the study, but 380 were excluded for being outside the age range and 55 were removed because they filled out the questionnaire incorrectly. In 2011, 7,077 students participated, but 508 were excluded and 40 removed for the same reasons mentioned above. The students responded a questionnaire on lifestyle and health risk behavior. Both surveys found a greater proportion of girls, single individuals, living with their family and residing in urban areas. The 2001 survey revealed a higher proportion of 17 to 19 year-olds who worked, who were enrolled in the second year of high school, and studied in the evening when compared to the 2011 survey. The methodological tools utilized in this study will can support the development of research with high school adolescents.

Heg.IA: an intelligent system to support diagnosis of Covid-19 based on blood tests

Abstract: A new kind of coronavirus, the SARS-CoV-2, started the biggest pandemic of the century. More than a million people have been killed by Covid-19. Because of this, quick and precise diagnosis test is necessary. The current gold standard is the RT-PCR with DNA sequencing and identification, but its results take too long to be available. Tests base on IgM/IgG antibodies have been used, but their sensitivity and specificity may be very low. Many studies have been demonstrating the Covid-19 impact on hematological parameters. This work proposes an intelligent system to support Covid-19 diagnosis based on blood testing. Laboratory parameters obtained from the hemogram and biochemical tests defined as standards to support clinical diagnosis were used as input features. Afterward, we used particle swarm optimization, evolutionary algorithms, and manual selection based on cost minimization to select the most significant features. We tested several machine learning methods, and we achieved high classification performance: overall accuracy of 95.159% ± 0.693, kappa index of 0.903 ± 0.014, sensitivity of 0.968 ± 0.007, precision of 0.938 ± 0.010, and specificity of 0.936 ± 0.011. These results were achieved using classical and low computational cost classifiers, with Bayes Network being the best of them. In addition, only 24 blood tests were needed. This points to the possibility of a new rapid test with low cost. The desktop version of the system is fully functional and available for free use.

Flow capacity of skeletonized versus pedicled internal thoracic artery in coronary artery bypass graft surgery: systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression

Abstract: Many surgeons are concerned about the flow capacity of a skeletonized internal thoracic artery (ITA) in comparison with a pedicled ITA used during coronary artery bypass graft (CABG). This work aims to summarize the evidence comparing the flow capacity of a skeletonized versus pedicled ITA during CABG. We performed systematic review and meta-analysis according to the PRISMA statement based on a search in MEDLINE, EMBASE, CENTRAL/CCTR, ClinicalTrials.gov, SciELO, LILACS, Google Scholar and reference lists of relevant articles. Studies included were original studies whose populations comprised patients undergoing CABG; compared outcomes between skeletonized versus pedicled ITA; the outcomes included data regarding intraoperative flow capacity of the grafts; the studies were prospective or retrospective or non-randomized or randomized controlled trials. In total, eight studies were identified and reviewed for eligibility and data were extracted. Forest plots and the summarized difference in means including 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated and meta-regressions were performed. There was a statistically significant difference in favour of the skeletonized ITA compared with the pedicled ITA in terms of flow capacity (random-effect model: additional 20.8 ml/min, 95% CI 6.6-35.0, P = 0.004), being the summary measures under the influence of heterogeneity of the effects, but free from publication bias. We observed a difference with regard to the type of study, since non-randomized studies together demonstrated the superiority of a skeletonized ITA (random-effect model: additional 32.3 ml/min, 95% CI 21.0-43.6, P < 0.001), but the randomized studies together did not show it (random-effect model: additional 13.2 ml/min, 95% CI -1.1 to 27.6, P = 0.071). Meta-regression demonstrated some modulation influence by female gender, age and diabetes on the flow capacity of grafts. In summary, in terms of flow capacity, a skeletonized ITA appears to be superior in comparison with a pedicled ITA during CABG.