Artículos de revistas
Characterization of autopsy-proven fatal asthma patients in Sao Paulo, Brazil
Fecha
2008Registro en:
REVISTA PANAMERICANA DE SALUD PUBLICA-PAN AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, v.23, n.6, p.418-423, 2008
1020-4989
10.1590/S1020-49892008000600007
Autor
MAUAD, Thais
FERREIRA, Diogenes S.
COSTA, Maria Beatriz G.
ARAUJO, Bianca B.
SILVA, Luiz Fernando F.
MARTINS, Milton A.
WENZEL, Sally E.
DOLHNIKOFF, Marisa
Institución
Resumen
Few data are available on autopsy-proven fatal asthma patients in Sao Paulo, Brazil. We characterized 73 asthma patients who were autopsied at the Servico de Verificacao de Obitos do Universidade de Sao Paulo between 1996 and 2004. An interview with the next of kin assessed socioeconomic status, history, and treatment of asthma. There were 42 women and 31 men. Fifty-six (76.7%) of them were older than 34 years. Sixty-three percent were Caucasians, 77.3% had < 8 years of schooling, and the median income was 1.6 times the minimum wage. Twenty-two patients (30.1%) were smokers and 14 (19.2%) were ex-smokers. Only 25 (34.2%) patients were regularly followed by a doctor. Only 12.3% received inhaled steroids. Thirty-five patients (47.9%) had moderate-to-severe asthma. Fifty-five (75.3%) deaths took place outside a hospital, We conclude that this population shares characteristics of severe or poorly controlled asthma, low educational and socioeconomic levels, and lack of medical care and of inhaled steroid use.