BackgroundMost epidemiological studies on pediatric asthma rely on the report of "wheezing" in questionnaires. Our aim was to investigate the understanding of this term by parents and health professionals.MethodsA cross-sectional survey was carried out in hospital and community settings within the south of Portugal. Parents or caregivers self-completed a written questionnaire with information on social characteristics and respiratory history. Multiple choice questions assessed their understanding of "wheezing". Health professionals (physicians, nurses and physiotherapists) were given an adapted version. We used bivariate analysis and multivariate models to study associations between definitions of "wheezing" and participants' characteristics.ResultsQuestionnaires from 425 parents and 299 health professionals were included. The term "wheezing" was not recognized by 34% of parents, more frequently those who were younger (OR 0.4 per 10-year increment, 95% CI 0.3-0.7), had lower education (OR 3.3, 95% CI 1.5-7.4), and whose children had no history of respiratory disease (OR 4.6, 95% CI 2.5-8.7) (all ORs adjusted). 31% of parents familiar with "wheezing" either did not identify it as a sound, or did not locate it to the chest, while tactile (40%) and visual (34%) cues to identify "wheezing" were frequently used. Nurses reported using visual stimuli and overall assessments more often than physicians (p < 0.01). The geographical location was independently associated with how parents recognized and described "wheezing".ConclusionsDifferent meanings for "wheezing" are recognized in Portuguese language and may be influenced by education, respiratory history and regional terminology. These findings are likely applicable to other non-English languages, and suggest the need for more accurate questionnaires and additional objective measurement instruments to study the epidemiology of wheezing disorders.

Sensorial functioning, social participation, perceptions of death and dying, and intimacy play an important role in the positive relationship between physical activity and QOL.

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Background: With population aging occurring worldwide, promoting climacteric women's health has become the object of important studies. Purpose: Observing the prevalence of depression in climacteric women and their self-evaluation of the depression factors is the main goal of this study. Design: This cross-sectional research is enquiry descriptive. Methods: The sample was composed of 48 climacteric women (between 45 and 65 years old) non-selected volunteers, served by the Centers for Psycho and Social Attention (CAPS) of Specialized Mental Medicine, in Sorocaba, via the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) questionnaire. Results: Checking the mean and frequency distribution, the climacteric women presented a prevalence of 37.5% of moderate depression (BDI index = 24.39 ± 3.13), and 47.92% of severe depression (BDI index = 38.13 ± 6.78). Concerning the symptoms, Spearman rank order correlation was found as the highest concerns,

Background: Pregnancy-related low back pain (LBP) impacts pregnancy. Flexibilizing facilitates movements providing posture correction and pain relief. Objective: To analyze effects of a maximum static flexibility program on pregnancy's LBP. Methods: Clinical prospective randomized controlled trial. Setting: Brazilian Governmental Health Program's prenatal care. Participants: 40 volunteer of pregnant women, gestational age between 20 and 31 weeks, with/without LBP randomly assigned to experimental group (EG) or control group (CG): EG n = 20 (E1 with LBP and E2 without LBP) and CG n = 20 (C1 with LBP and C2 without LBP). Interventions: EG intervention was sessions of static flexion. CG received conventional medical treatment. Pain intensity was measured by visual analog scale (VAS) of pain. Chi-square, Wilcoxon and the Kruskal-Wallis statistical tests were adopted. Results: Concerning percent variation (Δ%) E1 presented 56.4% reduction of LBP while E2, C1, C2 increased LBP by 2.9%, 0.1%, 0.5% respectively. Wilcoxon test outcome comparing pre-and post-test of experimental and control groups on pain intensity levels presented significant E1 p < 0.05. Kruskal-Wallis test comparing post-test C1 with E1 with E2 and C2 presented p < 0.05 (C1 post vs. E1 post: p = 0.006; C1 post vs. E2 post: p < 0.0001; C1 post vs. C2 post: p = 0.002), showing significant effect of the experimental treatment. Conclusion: Gains on LBP for EG show that the static flexibilizing exercises reduce and prevent pregnancy-related LBP.

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Background: Population aging all over the world invites older people to be active, considering physical activity (PA) as associated with reduced anxiety, depression and stress and a high quality of life (QOL) in older people. Objective: To analyze anxiety, depression, stress and QOL as a function of PA in older people. Methodology: Descriptive analytical research. Six hundred and ninety older people answered the instrument composed of sociodemographic questions, followed by questions from the WHOQOL-Old, Baecke-Old, WHOQOL-SRPB, Stress Perception Scale, Beck Anxiety Inventory and Beck Depression Inventory. Results: The beneficial effect of PA on the elderly is evident in this sample with such a high QoL (73%) and such a high level of physical activity (84%), and even with an advanced level of education (75%) and high spirituality (99.6%). The influence of PA on the anxiety and stress cluster showed Pearson’s chi-square = 9.9, DF = 4, p = 0.04239, critical value = 9.5. The influence of PA on the anxiety, depression and stress cluster showed Pearson’s chi-square = 6.8; DF = 5; p-value = 0.24; critical value = 11.1. Conclusion: In the elderly, PA has a significant relationship with anxiety, stress and QOL. In addition, the high level of QOL of the elderly in the sample demonstrates the capacity for PA, educational level and spirituality for personal satisfaction.

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