São Paulo medical journal = Revista paulista de medicina
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One of the big challenges facing governments worldwide is the financing of healthcare systems. Thus, it is necessary to understand the factors and key components associated with healthcare expenditure. The aim here was to identify demographic, socioeconomic, lifestyle and clinical factors associated with direct healthcare expenditure within primary care, among adults attended through the Brazilian National Health System in the city of Bauru. ⋯ Our results showed that overweight, lower levels of physical activity and hypertension were independent risk factors associated with higher healthcare expenditure within primary care.
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Aging causes changes in men and women. Studies have shown that women have worse postural balance and greater functional dependence than men, but there is no consensus regarding this. The aim of this study was to compare the balance and functional independence of elderly people according to sex and age, and to evaluate the association between postural balance and the number of drugs taken. ⋯ There was no sexual difference in relation to postural balance. However, people who were more elderly presented a high risk of falling. Functional dependence was worse among females. There was an association between the number of medication drugs and risk of falling.
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Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) are the leading health problem globally and generate high numbers of premature deaths and loss of quality of life. The aim here was to describe the major groups of causes of death due to NCDs and the ranking of the leading causes of premature death between 1990 and 2015, according to the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2015 study estimates for Brazil. ⋯ The decline in mortality due to NCDs confirms that improvements in disease control have been achieved in Brazil. Nonetheless, the high mortality due to violence is a warning sign. Through maintaining the current decline in NCDs, Brazil should meet the target of 25% reduction proposed by the World Health Organization by 2025.
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Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, immune-mediated and degenerative central nervous system (CNS) disease with well-established diagnostic criteria. Treatment can modify the course of the disease. The objective of this study was to describe the initial symptoms of multiple sclerosis in a Brazilian medical center. ⋯ MS is a heterogeneous disease and its initial clinical manifestation is very variable.
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Dementia is a highly prevalent condition worldwide. Its chronic and progressive presentation has an impact on physical and psychosocial characteristics and on public healthcare. Our aim was to summarize evidence from Cochrane reviews on non-pharmacological treatments for cognitive disorders and dementia. ⋯ Many non-pharmacological interventions for patients with cognitive impairment and dementia have been studied and potential benefits have been shown. However, the strength of evidence derived from these studies was considered low overall, due to the methodological limitations of the primary studies.