OBJECTIVE:To estimate the prevalence of falls in elderly individuals and to analyze associated factors. METHODS:Cross-sectional study with 420 elderly subjects (aged 60 years or older) living in the city of Juiz de Fora (Southeastern Brazil) in 2010. A household survey was conducted and the occurrence of falls in the 12 previous months was described. For the analysis of factors associated with the outcome, a theoretical determination model with three hierarchical blocks was built. The variables were adjusted among each other within each block; those with level of signifi cance ≤ 0.20 were included in the Poisson regression model and adjusted to the immediately higher level, with 5% signifi cance level. RESULTS:The prevalence of falls among the elderly was 32.1% (95%CI: 27.7; 36.9). Among those who experienced falls, 53% had a single fall and 19% had fractures as a consequence. Most of the falls (59%) occurred at the elderly person's home. The occurrence of falls was associated with old age, female sex, need of help for locomotion and self-reported diagnosis of osteoporosis. CONCLUSIONS:Falls are frequent among the elderly. Knowledge of the factors associated with the occurrence of this event can aid the development of prevention strategies and adequate health services.

This study aimed to assess the associations between mental health conditions, individual and job characteristics and sleep disturbances among firefighters. Of 303 participants, 51.2% reported sleep disturbances. Psychological distress and psychosomatic disturbances were significantly associated with sleep disturbances. Suicidal ideation, unhealthy alcohol use and time as a firefighter were also associated with sleep disturbances but at a borderline level of significance (0.05 < p < .085). These findings may be related to the psychological and physical hazards of firefighting and indicate the importance of research on associated professions.

This study identified 4 independent predictors of IRIS-KS, which may help to develop screening tools aiding in the identification of patients at high risk of IRIS-KS for whom close clinical supervision is warranted.

In countries with a high incidence of HIV and tuberculosis co-infection, nevirapine and efavirenz are widely used as antiretroviral therapy but both interact with antituberculosis drugs. We aimed to compare efficacy and safety of a nevirapine-based antiretroviral therapy (started at full dose) with an efavirenz-based regimen in co-infected patients

BackgroundLack of regular physical activity, high sedentary behavior and presence of unbalanced alimentary practices are attitudes associated with an inadequate lifestyle among female adolescents.Objectiveto assess the lifestyle of female adolescents based on measurements of behavioral variables.MethodsCross-sectional study with 405 female adolescents between 14 and 19 years old, resident and attending public schools in Viçosa (state of Minas Gerais). Their lifestyle was analyzed by the Physical Activity Recall, number of steps, screen time (ST), cellphone time (CT), sitting time, food frequency questionnaire (FFQ), and alcohol and tobacco consumption. With multiple correspondence analysis it was possible to observe dispersion and approximation of the variables’ categories. Latent class analysis (LCA) was used for modeling the “lifestyle” variable, having been conducted in the poLCA (Polychromous Variable Latent Class Analysis) package of the R statistical software.ResultsThe mean age was 15.92 ± 1.27 years. Most of the adolescents were considered physically inactive (78%) and with low number of steps (82.57%); 41.45% reported not performing Moderate to Vigorous Physical Activities (MVPA) adequately. Sedentary behavior was found high when assessing ST (72.90%) and CT (65.31%). It was found the best fitted latent class model for the lifestyle (p-G2 = 0.055, p-χ2 = 0.066) featured three latent classes and one covariate (alcohol): Class 1, ‘Inactive and Sedentary’ (γ = 77.5%); Class 2, ‘Inactive and Non-sedentary lifestyle (γ=16.31%); and Class 3, ‘Active and sedentary’ (γ=6.19%). Female adolescents that had ‘never consumed alcohol’ were 2.26 times as likely (log OR = 0.8174; p = 0.033) to belong to class 3 (Active & Sedentary lifestyle) than to class 1 (Inactive & Sedentary lifestyle).ConclusionLatent class analysis model with five manifest variable (MVPA, number of steps, ST, sitting time and number of meals) and alcohol consumption like covariate showed itself to be an accurate and objective method in the assessment of female adolescents’ lifestyle. Female adolescents that had ‘never consumed alcohol’ were more as likely to belong to class ‘Active & Sedentary lifestyle’ than to class Inactive & Sedentary lifestyle. An inactive and sedentary lifestyle is coupled to other unhealthy behaviors during adolescence, possibly carrying over into adult life.