Search

ABSTRACT Objective: To describe the main functions of the “Systematic Review Support” web-based system for removing duplicate articles and aiding eligibility analysis during the process of conducting systematic review studies. Methods: The system was developed based on the incremental build model using the Agile methodology. The software is proprietary source code and was published on a proprietary platform. The architecture of the production environment allows the infrastructure used to increase or decrease according to demand. The system functions are presented with insertion of screenshots of the interfaces of the version for personal computers during the simulation of a systematic review. Results: After importing the files containing the abstracts retrieved from the Pubmed, Embase, and Web of Science databases, the system identifies and removes duplicates for later reading and analysis of title and abstract, a stage which can be performed by one or more reviewers independently. After unblinding of reviewers, the decisions on the eligibility of the studies are compared automatically to help the researchers reach a consensus on any disagreements. Results can be filtered and a PDF produced containing the eligible studies. Conclusion: Version 1.0 of the system is available on the web (sysrev.azurewebsites.net) to assist researchers in the initial stages of systematic reviews.

Objective: To present and discuss the process of the development of a Quantitative Food Frequency Questionnaire (QFFQ) aimed to 7-10 year-old children. Methods: A methodological study was performed based on the application of a Food Diary (FD) fulfilled by 85 children. Based on registered foods, the diet composition in relation to energy and macronutrients was calculated. Foods were grouped into items and the percentage of the contribution of each item to the diet in terms of calories and macronutrients were calculated. Results: The QFFQ was constructed with 92 food items, 76 were selected by Block's method and 16 were identified from other instruments from literature developed for children and adolescents. The food items were grouped in 17 food groups with 3 serving sizes and 7 categories to measure food frequency. Conclusion: Among the food items, the rice was the one that showed the biggest percentage of contribution for energy and carbohydrates. For other nutrients, the meat and the milk were the ones that contributed most to the consumption of proteins and lipids, respectively.

The nutritional status of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) is related to morbidity and mortality and its monitoring is important in the maintenance of the health status. This is a cross-sectional study carried out in Brazilian National Health System in the Municipality of São Paulo. It describes anthropometrical characteristics: weight and height; indices of weight for height (W/H), height for age (H/A), body mass index for age (BMI/A) and Z score for height and weight. The study includes 772 participants from all ages: children, adolescents, adults and elderly. The graphical analysis shows that in under-5s and in the 5 to 19 years old group, the W/H, the H/A and the BMI/A curves are similar to the reference population with an exception in the H/A for 5 to 19 years old group which is left-shifted (mean Z = -0.66). In the case of adults, graphics for the study population show median weight apparently lower than in the reference population for most age groups in the case of men, and when age is greater in women. The proportion of people over 20 years old with AIDS on anti-retroviral therapy is lower when coinfection is present (p < 0.001). The findings of the study showed that, for children and adolescents with HIV/AIDS, the average weight and height are lower than the values for non infected population. For adults and elderly, the weight average is lower than the reference population with a worsening among coinfected patients. This underscores the need to direct more effort in nutritional actions thus helping enhance the health status of this group.

OBJETIVO: Avaliar as concentrações séricas de retinol e beta-caroteno de pré-escolares em Teresina, Piauí, com caracterização do perfil antropométrico e do consumo alimentar. MATERIAL E MÉTODOS: Estudo transversal envolvendo 135 crianças em creche municipal, com avaliação do estado nutricional pelos métodos: bioquímico (concentração sérica de retinol e beta-caroteno), antropométrico (índices de peso para estatura - P/E e estatura para idade - E/I) e dietético (freqüência de consumo alimentar). RESULTADOS: Observou-se prevalência de deficiência de vitamina A (DVA) de 8,9% (IC95%: 4,7 - 15,0%) e existência de associação entre suplementação anterior e concentrações de retinol, com maior proporção de crianças com níveis normais de retinol entre as suplementadas (p = 0,025). As concentrações de retinol e de beta-caroteno mostraram-se correlacionadas, porém com força leve a moderada (p < 0,021). Os percentuais de crianças com baixo P/E e de baixa E/I foram de 1,9% (IC95%: 0,2 - 6,8%) e 9,7% (IC95%: 4,8 - 17,1%), respectivamente. Na avaliação dietética verificou-se baixo consumo de alimentos ricos em vitamina A. CONCLUSÕES: A elevada prevalência de DVA nas crianças, combinada com a alta percentagem de crianças com valores aceitáveis de retinol, os baixos valores medianos de beta-caroteno, a alta percentagem de déficit estatural e a inadequação do consumo de alimentos ricos em vitamina A, indicam a necessidade de se aprimorar as estratégias de educação em saúde e nutrição da população, incentivando o consumo de alimentos fontes de vitamina A, como medidas auto-sustentáveis importantes no combate ao problema. Além disso, deve ser considerado o incentivo à fortificação dos alimentos e ao fortalecimento de Programas de suplementação.OBJECTIVE: To evaluate serum concentrations of retinol and beta-carotene of children in Teresina, Piauí, Brazil, and to evaluate their anthropometric profile and consumption of food sources of vitamin A. METHODS: Cross-sectional study of 135 children from 36 to 83 months of age who attended a public child day care center. Nutritional status was evaluated by: biochemical (serum concentrations of retinol and beta-carotene), anthropometric (weight for height - W/H and height for age - H/A indexes), and dietary (frequency of consumption of food sources of vitamin A) methods. RESULTS: The prevalence of vitamin A deficiency (VAD) was 8.9% (95%CI: 4.7-15.0%). An association between previous supplementation with vitamin A and serum concentrations of retinol was observed, with a higher proportion of children with normal concentrations of retinol among those supplemented (p=0.025). There was a weak to moderate statistically significant correlation between the concentrations of retinol and beta-carotene, (p

O objetivo do estudo é apresentar aspectos metodol��gicos relativos à concordância entre avaliadores, na seleção inicial de artigos em estudo de revisão sistemática com ou sem metanálise. Foram utilizados como exemplo dados da fase inicial do estudo "Suplementação de vitamina A em lactantes: revisão sistemática". Estes constituem o resultado da leitura, realizada por dois avaliadores, de resumos de artigos selecionados, criteriosamente, em bases bibliográficas eletrônicas. Para cada resumo, foram respondidas as questões: "O estudo envolve mulheres no pós-parto?"; "Trata-se de um estudo com suplementação de vitamina A?"; "O estudo é ensaio clínico?"; seguidas da decisão (inclusão/exclusão) do trabalho. Os dados foram inseridos em planilha Excel, com dupla digitação e uso de procedimento de validação. Utilizou-se o índice de concordância kappa para os aspectos: população, intervenção, tipo de estudo e decisão. Foram identificados 2.553 trabalhos. Os índices de concordância kappa foram, quanto à adequação da população de estudo: k=0,46; do tipo de intervenção: k=0,59; do tipo de estudo: k=0,59 e, sobre a decisão pela inclusão/exclusão: k=0,44. Com base nas concordâncias razoável (tipo de estudo e intervenção) e pobre (população de estudo) observadas entre avaliadores, enfatiza-se a necessidade da leitura inicial dos trabalhos por pelo menos dois avaliadores. As reuniões para consenso realizadas nos casos discordantes foram úteis para resolver diferenças de interpretação entre os avaliadores, possibilitando nova leitura e maior reflexão, e colaboraram, portanto, para diminuir as chances de exclusão de um artigo que, na verdade, deveria ser incluído, com conseqüente maior controle sobre possível vício de seleção.The objective of this study is to present the methodological aspects of inter-rater agreement in the initial selection of studies for a systematic review with or without meta-analysis. As an example, we used data from the initial phase of the study called "Vitamin A supplementation for breastfeeding mothers: systematic review". The data are the result of a reading carried out by two raters of article abstracts selected judiciously among electronic bibliography databases. For each study we posed the questions: "Does the study involve post-partum females?"; "Is it a vitamin A supplementation study?"; "Is it a clinical trial?", followed by a decision (inclusion/exclusion) concerning the study. The data were keyed twice into an Excel spreadsheet and a validation procedure was followed. The kappa agreement rate was applied to the following aspects: population, intervention, study type, and decision. We identified 2,553 studies. The kappa agreement rates were: k=0.46 for suitability of the population studied; k= 0.59 for intervention type; k=0.59 for study type; and k=0.44 for the inclusion/exclusion decision. Given the fair (intervention and study type) and slight (population studied) agreement between raters, we emphasize the need for the studies to be read initially by at least two raters. The consensus meetings carried out in the presence of disagreement were useful to solve differences of interpretation between raters, provided new understanding and deeper reflection, contributed to reduce the chance of non-inclusion of necessary studies, and thus enhanced control over a possible selection bias.

Centros de Testagem e Aconselhamento em DST/HIV (CTA) oferecem, entre outras atividades, a realização de testes sorológicos anti-HIV e VDRL. Estes serviços dispõem de coleta sistemática de dados permitindo conhecer o perfil epidemiológico dos indivíduos infectados. O presente estudo descreve o perfil epidemiológico das pessoas com sorologia positiva que utilizaram um dos maiores CTA do país, durante os anos de 2001 e 2002. Foram utilizados dados de sorologia positiva e das entrevistas (pré e pós teste) realizadas de rotina. Obsevou-se 470 (4%) resultados positivos entre 10657 testes sorológicos realizados, sendo que grande parte (81,4%) dos usuários com sorologia positiva são do sexo masculino. A idade média dos indivíduos estudados foi 32,3 anos, sem diferencial para sexo (p=0,968); 75% trabalham; 41% dos usuários do sexo feminino e 77% do sexo masculino são solteiros (pSTD/HIV Counseling and Testing Centers (CTA) provide serological testing for HIV and syphilis, among other activities. These centers collect and register data systematically, and thus allow profiling of HIV-positive individuals. The present study presents the epidemiological profile of HIV-positive individuals who attended a high-demand center from January 2001 to December 2002. Data from serological tests with positive results and information recorded during the interviews (pre- and post-testing) were used as sources. During the period, there were 470 (4%) positive results, out of 10,657 tests performed. Most HIV-positive individuals were male (81.4%); the average age among all positive individuals was 32.3 years; 75% were employed; 41% of HIV-positive females and 77% males were single (p