Objectives: to analyze the Pelvic Floor Muscle Strength (PFMS) of pregnant women with one or more vaginal or cesarean deliveries; to compare the PFMS of these with pregnant women with the PFMS of primiparous women. Methods: cross-sectional study with women up to 12 weeks pregnant, performed in Itapecerica da Serra, São Paulo state, from December 2012 to May 2013. The sample consisted of 110 pregnant women with one or more vaginal deliveries or cesarean sections and 110 primigravidae. The PFMS was evaluated by perineometry (Peritron™) and vaginal digital palpation (modified Oxford scale). Results: the average PFMS in pregnant women with a history of vaginal delivery or cesarean section was 33.4 (SD=21.2) cmH2O. From the Oxford scale, 75.4% of the pregnant women with previous vaginal or cesarean deliveries presented grade ≤ 2, and 5.5% grade ≥ 4; among the primiparae, 39.9% presented grade ≤ 2, and 50.9% grade ≥ 4, with a statistically significant difference (p<0.001). From the perineometry, there was no statistically significant difference between the PFMS and age, type of delivery, parity, body mass index, and genitourinary tract symptoms, however, there was a statistically significant difference between the pregnant women with and without a history of episiotomy (p=0.04). In the palpation, none of the variables showed a statistically significant difference. Conclusion: pregnancy and childbirth can reduce the PFMS.

Objective: to investigate the factors related to medication adherence and its relation to Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) in elderly people with diabetic retinopathy. Method: one hundred (n=100) elderly outpatients with diabetic retinopathy taking antihypertensives and/or oral antidiabetics/insulin were interviewed. Adherence was evaluated by the adherence proportion and its association with the care taken in administrating medications and by the Morisky Scale. The National Eye Institute Visual Functioning Questionnaire (NEI VFQ-25) was used to evaluate HRQoL. Results: most (58%) reported the use of 80% or more of the prescribed dose and care in utilizing the medication. The item “stopping the drug when experiencing an adverse event”, from the Morisky Scale, explained 12.8% and 13.5% of the variability of adherence proportion to antihypertensives and oral antidiabetics/insulin, respectively. Conclusion: there was better HRQoL in the Color Vision, Driving and Social Functioning domains of the NEI VFQ-25. Individuals with lower scores on the NEI VFQ-25 and higher scores on the Morisky Scale presented greater chance to be nonadherent to the pharmacological treatment of diabetes and hypertension.

Objective: to assess the quality of life of chronic kidney patients undergoing hemodialysis, using the WHOQOL-bref and WHOQOL-SRPB. Method: a descriptive and cross-sectional study was undertaken at a kidney replacement therapy service in the interior of the state of SP. The 110subjects who complied with the inclusion criteria answered the Subject Characterization Instrument, the WHOQOL-bref and WHOQOL-SRPB. Results: most of the respondents were male (67.27%), with a mean age of 55.65 years, Catholic (55.45%), with unfinished primary education (33.64%) and without formal occupation (79.08%). The WHOQOL-bref domains with the highest and lowest mean score were, respectively, “psychological” (µ=74.20) and “physical” (µ=61.14). The WHOQOL-SRPB domains with the highest and lowest mean score were, respectively, “completeness and integration” (µ=4.00) and “faith” (µ=4.40). Conclusions: the respondents showed high quality of life scores, specifically in the dimensions related to spirituality, religion and personal beliefs. Losses were evidenced in the physical domain of quality of life, possibly due to the changes resulting from the chronic kidney disease and hemodialysis treatment.

Objective: to analyze the meanings Primary Health Care users attribute to their health-disease process and the services used. Methods: this qualitative research uses the focus group technique to interview two groups of users the service monitors. The first is a group of elderly people and the second of pregnant women. To analyze the meanings, the discourse analysis technique and the reference framework of health promotion are used. Results: the group of elderly, being mostly female arterial hypertension and diabetes mellitus patients, visualizes the health-disease process as the evolution of human existence controlled by divine power, signifying the health service as a blessing in the control of the disease. The Group of young pregnant women signified health as the ability for self-care and disease as the disability for that purposes, considering the Primary Health Care service as responsible for the recovery of individual and family health. Final considerations: the users demonstrated dissatisfaction with bureaucratic and vertical relations present at the health services. In each group, it was observed that the meanings for health and disease and meanings of the health service the users elaborated can be related.

Objectives: to assess how nurses perceive autonomy, control over the environment, the professional relationship between nurses and physicians and the organizational support and correlate them with burnout, satisfaction at work, quality of work and the intention to quit work in primary healthcare. Method: cross-sectional and correlation study, using a sample of 198 nurses. The tools used were the Nursing Work Index Revised, Maslach Burnout Inventory and a form to characterize the nurses. To analyze the data, descriptive statistics were applied and Spearman’s correlation coefficient was used. Results: the nurses assessed that the environment is partially favorable for: autonomy, professional relationship and organizational support and that the control over this environment is limited. Significant correlations were evidenced between the Nursing Work Index Revised, Maslach Burnout Inventory and the variables: satisfaction at work, quality of care and the intent to quit the job. Conclusion: the nurses’ perceptions regarding the environment of practice are correlated with burnout, satisfaction at work, quality of care and the intent to quit the job. This study provides support for the restructuring of work processes in the primary health care environment and   for communication among the health service management, human resources and occupational health areas.

Objective: to investigate the burnout syndrome and its relationship with demographic and academic variables among undergraduate nursing students at a public university in Southern Brazil. Method: a quantitative study with 168 students, by applying an adaptation of the Maslach Burnout Inventory - Student Survey, validated for this study. We used descriptive and variance analysis of the data analysis. Results: we found that students do not have the burnout syndrome, manifesting high average scores in Emotional Exhaustion, low in Disbelief and high in Professional Effectiveness; that younger students who perform leisure activities have greater Professional Effectiveness, unlike students in early grades with no extracurricular activities; combining work and studies negatively influenced only the Professional Effectiveness factor, while the intention of giving up influenced negatively Disbelief and Professional Effectiveness factors. Conclusion: the situations that lead students to Emotional Exhaustion need to be recognized, considering the specificity of their study environments.

Objective: to evaluate the heterogeneity of biomedical waste (BW) using Nightingale charts. Method: cross-sectional study consisting of data collection on wastes (direct observation of receptacles, physical characterisation, and gravimetric composition), development of a Management Information System, and creation of statistical charts. Results: the wastes with the greatest degree of heterogeneity are, in order, recyclable, infectious, and organic wastes; chemical waste had the most efficient segregation; Nightingale charts are useful for quick visualisation and systematisation of information on heterogeneity. Conclusion: the development of a management information system and the use of Nightingale charts allows for the identification and correction of errors in waste segregation, which increase health risks and contamination by infectious and chemical wastes and reduce the sale and profit from recyclables.

Objectives: to analyze the prevalence of satisfaction at work and identify associated factors in Psychosocial Care Centers. Method: cross-sectional study involving 546 workers from 40 Psychosocial Care Centers in the South of Brazil. The satisfaction was identified based on the Assessment Scale of Satisfaction in the Mental Health Team and a logistic regression model was used for the adjusted data analysis. Results: the prevalence of satisfaction at work corresponded to 66.4%. Factors directly associated with satisfaction: higher-level function (except physicians and psychologists), work time of six months or less, making a larger number of home visits, good supervision by the team, possibility to make collective choices and take courses. Conclusions: the satisfaction is associated with the work organization and conditions and demonstrates the need to invest in team supervisions, in process that democratize the services and in the workers’ training.

Objective: to analyze the relation between the workload and the physiological stress reactions among nurses working at a hospital service. Methods: cross-sectional, correlational, quantitative study, involving 95 nurses, in 2011 and 2012. Spearman’s bivariate Correlation Test was used. Results: most subjects are female, between 23 and 61 years old and working between 21 and 78 hours per week. The most frequent physiological reactions were back pain, fatigue/exhaustion, stiff neck and stomach acidity, with 46.3% of the subjects presenting low and 42.1% moderate physiological stress responses. No correlation was found between the workload and the physiological stress responses. Conclusion: although most of the nurses work more than 36 hours/week, physiologically, they do not present high reaction levels in response to stress. These workers deal with conflicts in the vertical and horizontal relations between professionals, family members and patients. In that sense, taking care of professionals who offer health services can be a fundamental strategy, as good user care mainly depends on healthy teams.

Objectives: to identify adaptation problems under Roy’s Model in patients undergoing hemodialysis and to correlate them with the socioeconomic and clinical aspects. Method: a transversal study, undertaken using a questionnaire. The sample was made up of 178 individuals. The Chi-squared and Mann-Whitney U tests were undertaken. Results: the adaptation problems and the socioeconomic and clinical aspects which presented statistical associations were: Hyperkalemia and age; Edema and income; Impairment of a primary sense: touch and income; Role failure and age; Sexual dysfunction and marital status and sex; Impairment of a primary sense: vision and years of education; Intolerance to activity and years of education; Chronic pain and sex and years of education; Impaired skin integrity and age: Hypocalcemia and access; Potential for injury and age and years of education; Nutrition below the organism’s requirements and age; Impairment of a primary sense: hearing and sex and kinetic evaluation of urea; Mobility in gait and/or coordination restricted, and months of hemodialysis; and, Loss of ability for self-care, and months of hemodialysis and months of illness. Conclusion: adaptation problems in the clientele undergoing hemodialysis can be influenced by socioeconomic/clinical data. These findings contribute to the development of the profession, fostering the nurse’s reflection regarding the care.

Objective: to relate neck circumference with metabolic syndrome and its criteria among college students. Method: cross-sectional study conducted with 702 college students in Fortaleza, CE, Brazil from September 2010 to June 2011. Socio-demographic data, waist circumference and neck circumference were collected together with blood pressure, fasting blood sugar, triglyceride levels, and HDL-C. Results: 1.7% of the studied sample presented metabolic syndrome. Of these, 58.3% presented altered neck circumference (p<0.006). As neck circumference decreases, pressure levels improve (p<0.001). Additionally, college students with high fasting blood sugar (p=0.003) and high triglyceride levels (p<0.001) presented higher values of neck circumference. Conclusion: neck circumference is a potential predictive marker in the detection of metabolic syndrome and its components among college students.