To describe the development and validation of the Nova FFQ (NovaFFQ) for Brazilian adults.

The NovaFFQ is a self-administered, semi-quantitative questionnaire. The food list includes the most consumed foods and drinks based on 2017–2018 National Food Intake Survey data. We identified and differentiated foods that could be classified into multiple Nova groups. We assessed reproducibility and criterion validity using the percent energy contribution of each Nova group. Reproducibility was assessed by comparing NovaFFQ estimates on two occasions. Criterion validity was assessed by comparing the first NovaFFQ estimate against the mean of two Nova24h recalls. We estimated the intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) for both analyses and assessed the agreement of classification into quintiles using the prevalence-and-bias-adjusted kappa coefficients for criterion validity analysis.

Nationwide Brazilian study, the NutriNet-Brasil cohort.

There were 243 participants in the reproducibility analysis and 376 in the criterion validity analysis.

Strong reproducibility was observed, with an ICC of 0·91 for all the Nova groups. Criterion validity showed a moderate ICC, ranging from 0·61 for processed and ultra-processed foods (UPF) to 0·65 for unprocessed and minimally processed foods. Substantial agreement in ranking individuals across quintiles was found, as indicated by the prevalence-and-bias-adjusted kappa (PABAK = 0·74, 0·72, 0·70 and 0·73 for unprocessed and minimally processed foods, culinary ingredients and processed and ultra-processed foods, respectively).

The NovaFFQ is a valid instrument for assessing food consumption by processing level, especially for discriminating individuals according to the magnitude of consumption in all Nova groups.

The aim of this study was to evaluate how relationships between guardians and domestic animals were established and their possible effects during the COVID-19 pandemic period in Brazil.

Data were collected by completing an online questionnaire. Throughout the national territory, 2002 people completed the questionnaire, while respecting social distancing from January 20, 2021, to March 20, 2021. The inclusion and exclusion criteria were ‘to own pets’ or ‘those who had them during the period of quarantine’ in Brazil. The data obtained were treated qualitatively through discourse analysis and content analysis, while the quantitative data were tabulated by the questionnaire application platform itself.

The results showed that 97% of the participants were affected by the coronavirus pandemic in Brazil and that of these, 95.5% stated that their pet was important to overcome and bear bad feelings during the period of social isolation. It was possible to observe through the participants’ reports through the online questionnaire that the relationships with their pets were deepened during the pandemic period, and that these had an important role in overcoming bad emotions caused by social distancing.

It was concluded that due to these relationships, behaviors such as anxiety and sadness were reduced and the pets themselves also showed an increase in affective behaviors in relation to their guardians.

The aim of this study was to investigate the occurrence of the disease and research risk factors through sociodemographic data of children aged 0 to 15 years, with symptoms suggestive of COVID-19 in 3 Brazilian municipalities in an international border region.

Epidemiological and RT-PCR test results were collected from the COVID-19 notification records in suspected children and adolescents from March 1 to August 31, 2020, in municipalities (Assis Chateaubriand, Tupãssi, and Formosa do Oeste) located in an international border region. The results obtained and the variables associated were subjected to statistical analysis using the Chi-Square Test (x2) or Fisher’s Exact Test, using the statistical program SPSS v. 21.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, New York, USA) at the 5% significance level.

Among the 147 children from the 3 municipalities, 20 (13.60%) were diagnosed as positive. The predominance of cases was in male children (60.00%) and in children living in urban areas (80%). The most frequent symptoms observed in children were fever (65.00% of the cases), followed by headache (60.00%), cough (55.00%), and nasal congestion, as well as sore throat, both found in 35.00% of the cases.

All these data highlight the importance and the need for more epidemiological studies, especially in children and adolescents, as COVID-19 becomes part of the child health panorama worldwide, with serious direct and indirect impacts for humans, animals, and the environment.

This paper describes the first web-based self-completed 24-h recall designed to categorise food intake according to Nova groups – Nova24h – and its agreement with a reference tool in estimating the dietary relative contribution of the four Nova food groups (% of total energy intake).

Comparisons of estimates of dietary relative contributions of Nova groups obtained by Nova24h and one standard interviewer-led 24-h recall.

Nationwide adult cohort study in Brazil.

The subjects were 186 participants of the NutriNet Brasil Cohort Study (n 186).

No statistically significant differences were observed between the Nova24h and the reference tool mean contributions of unprocessed or minimally processed foods (52·3 % v. 52·6 %), processed culinary ingredients (11·6 % v. 11·9 %), processed foods (17·1 % v. 14·7 %) and ultra-processed foods (19·0 % v. 20·9 %). Intraclass correlation coefficients between individual estimates obtained for each Nova group showed moderate to good agreement (0·54–0·78). Substantial or almost perfect agreement between the tools was seen regarding the ability to rank participants according to quintiles of contribution of each Nova group (PABAK 0·69–0·81).

Nova24h is a suitable tool for estimating the dietary relative energy contribution of Nova food groups in the NutriNet Brasil cohort. New studies are necessary to verify its adequacy in other populations.

The Revised International Staging System (R-ISS) International Myeloma Working Group (IMWG) recommends a minimal panel to detect high-risk cytogenetics (del17p, t[4;14], t[14;16]) for patients with multiple myeloma (MM). In the Brazilian Public Health System, the use of FISH is currently authorized for rare diseases only, not including MM. In 2021, the Brazilian National Committee for Health Technology Incorporation, with the purpose of broadening the use of FISH to MM patients, requested a review to be undertaken by the Health Technology Assessment Center of University of Campinas’ Teaching Hospital. This study presents the results of a meta-analysis comparing FISH vs CC to the detection of the above-mentioned aberrations in MM patients.

On 25 June 2021, a pre-structured search on four databases (Embase, MEDLINE, Cochrane and LILACS) was performed to identify studies comparing FISH and CC results in MM patients for the detection of high-risk cytogenetics (del17p, t[4;14], and t[14;16]) in MM patients’ bone marrow samples. Study selection, risk of bias assessment, data extraction (frequency of positive tests) and quality of evidence assessment were performed by two independent researchers. Conflicts were solved in agreement meetings with a third researcher. Meta-analysis was performed using frequency of positives to obtain Risk Difference (RD), a surrogate measure of the surplus positive tests between FISH and CC.

From a total of 1346 rendered entries, 11 studies were selected. Only observational studies were available. These studies presented an overall high risk of bias (QUADAS-2). A total of 781 patients were assessed (653 evaluated by FISH and 719 by CC). Meta-analysis results showed that, for t(4;14) FISH detected 12 percent more samples (RD:0.12 [95% confidence interval (CI):0.06-0.19]). For t(14;16), FISH detected 0.42 percent more samples (RD:0.00 [95%CI:-0.01-0.02]). And for del17p, FISH detected 1.6 percent more samples (RD:0.12 [95%CI:0.04-0.20]).

FISH appears to be more effective than CC on the detection of t(4;414) and del17p aberrations, and can be a useful tool in hematology practice. The results of t(14;16) presented non-superiority, probably due to the low frequency of this aberration.

The Brazilian health technology assessment (HTA) process includes calls for public consultations, in which society can give its opinion on reports emitted by the National Committee for Health Technology Incorporation (CONITEC). Open and closed queries for public consultation are performed by official formularies and can be accessed online at CONITEC webpage. Queries are divided into two categories of reports: clinical protocols and guidelines, and incorporation/exclusion demands. Incorporation/exclusion queries are subdivided in two additional categories: opinion and experience, or technical. In this study we analyze the weight of patients’ participation in opinion and experience queries and their opinion (pro or con) on inclusion/exclusion of health technologies.

Formularies concerning concluded public consultations on health technology incorporation/exclusion reports were extracted from CONITEC website from 1 January to 26 November 2021. Entries on the opinion and experience formularies included amongst others, a close-ended question about the opinion of participants on health technology incorporation/exclusion reports (“favorable”/“against”/“neither”). In this study, we analyzed patients’ opinion contained within concluded public consultations on incorporation/exclusion of health technologies.

A total of 63 health technology incorporation/exclusion queries were performed in the analyzed period, of which there were only four exclusions. A total of 32,209 contributions were registered. “Patients”, “Health professionals”, “Family or caregivers”, “Interest on the theme”, accounted for 99.4 percent (13.5, 16.7, 32.3, 36.7%, respectively). Patient participation accounted for 4,367 (13.5%) entries. The total number of opinions in favor of the presented documents by the “Patients” was 4,268 (97.7%), 59 (1.4%) disagreed and 40 (0.9%) had no opinion.

Public consultation of official HTA reports is a very useful tool to legitimize decisions through social participation. Although patient participation is not numerically the most important category to contribute on public consultation queries, patients are, if not the most influential stakeholder, the main recipient of decisions concerning health technologies incorporations. Further analyses shall investigate experience narratives included in public consultation queries.

The demands for incorporating or excluding health technologies within the Brazilian Public Health System (SUS) can be requested by different stakeholders, including public administration, pharmaceutical companies, specialists’ and patients’ organizations/associations. The Brazilian National Committee for Health Technology Incorporation (CONITEC), part of the Ministry of Health, is the responsible organ to evaluate these demands and emit recommendations. The aim of this study is to show an overview of stakeholders according to the type of technology under request.

On 26 November 2021, a search was performed at CONITEC website. Health Technology Assessment (HTA) incorporation reports from 1 January to 26 November 2021 were extracted. From these reports, data regarding the demanded technology (e.g., medications, diagnostic tests, etc.), demand (technology incorporation, exclusion, or alteration), pharmacological classification according with the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC), and requester’ categorization (e.g., pharmaceutical companies, official administration organs, etc.).

Preliminary results showed a total of 77 health technologies, in 63 HTA incorporation submissions, of which 87 percent (n = 67) were medications, and 9 percent (n = 6) were new medical procedures. Only one medical device, one vaccine and two diagnostic tests were requested. Technology incorporation accounted for 94.8 percent of the demands (73), and 4 demands of exclusion. Seventy-one percent of the requested medications were classified, according to first ATC coding level, within groups L (Antineoplastic and immunomodulating agents), N group (Nervous system), A group (Alimentary tract and metabolism), and R group (Respiratory system), accounting 28.3, 17.9, 8.9 and 8.9 percent, respectively. Regarding stakeholders, the Brazilian Ministry of Health and its associated departments were responsible for 57.1 percent of the demands, while pharmaceutical companies requested 37.6 percent of incorporations. Other requesters included the Federal Justice Department, patients’, and specialists’ organizations, summing up with only four demands.

These results present the numerical weight of stakeholders in the Brazilian HTA incorporation system, with special attention to Brazilian bureaucracy and pharmaceutical companies. Further analysis regarding association between demand and other variables such as budgetary impact, costs, and ICD-10, shall deepen our understanding of different stakeholders’ role in Brazilian HTAi.

The Brazilian HTA process includes calls for public consultations, in which society can give its opinion on reports emitted by the National Committee for Health Technology Incorporation (CONITEC). Open and closed queries for public consultation are performed by official formularies and are available online at CONITEC webpage. There are two categories of queries: clinical protocols and guidelines, and incorporation/exclusion demands. Incorporation/exclusion queries are subdivided in two additional categories: opinion and experience, or technical. In this study we analyze health professionals’ technical contributions and their opinion (pro or con) on the inclusion or exclusion of health technologies.

On November 26th, 2021, formularies concerning concluded public consultations on health technology incorporation/exclusion reports were extracted from CONITEC website for the period, January 1, 2021 to November 26, 2021. Entries on the technical contributions formularies included a close-ended question about the opinion of participants on health technology incorporation/exclusion reports (“favorable”/“against”/“neither”).

A total of 63 health technology incorporation/exclusion queries were carried out during the study period, of which only 4 were exclusions. A total of 7783 contributions were registered. “Patients”, “Family or caregivers”, “Interest on the theme”, and “Health professionals”, accounted for 96.4% (10.9, 15.2, 17.1 and 53% respectively). Health professionals’ participation alone accounted for 4130 entries. Concerning the category “health professionals”, the total number of favorable opinions on the presented documents was 2740 (66.3%), 1306 (31.6%) disagreed, and 84 (2%) had no opinion.

Health professionals can be considered one of the main stakeholders considering HTA for technology incorporation in public health systems. Brazilian HTA reports are submitted to public consultation through queries, which are available open access at the Brazilian National Committee for Health Technology Incorporation website.

The objective of this study was to investigate the prevalence and carry out epidemiology using sociodemographic data from patients with symptoms suggestive of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) (SARS-CoV-2) in 3 bordering Brazilian municipalities.

An epidemiological survey of positive cases of COVID-19 through reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was carried out in 1874 patients, seen in the Unified Health System (SUS), ages between 0 and 99 years, who had symptoms suggestive of COVID-19, from the cities of Assis Chateaubriand, Tupãssi, and Formosa do Oeste.

It was possible to observe that of the 1874 patients seen in the public health network of the 3 municipalities, 354 were diagnosed as positive. The predominance of cases was in female patients (51.97%) and in patients who lived in urban areas (93.50%), and the predominant age group was 20–29 years (19.78%).

The result of this study demonstrated the epidemiological profile of patients with respiratory and flu-like symptoms, positive for COVID-19, in 3 municipalities bordering Paraguay and Argentina. It was evident that the age group has its specificities regarding the susceptibility of the infection. Although the borders are closed, there was probably a spread of the virus in this region, due to the diversion, which showed an increase during the pandemic period.

The primary objective of this study was to determine whether Altmetric score, number of reads, and citations for paediatric cardiology manuscripts correlate with one another. A secondary objective was to determine the extent to which factors mediated citation number for paediatric cardiology manuscripts.

Data for this study came from manuscripts published in Cardiology in the Young (2010–2021). Data were extracted by using data shared on the journal website. Spearman’s correlation analyses were conducted between manuscript reads, citations, and Altmetric score. Regression analyses were conducted with number of citations as the dependent variable and year of publication, publication type, number of reads, and Altmetric score as independent variables.

A total of 2642 manuscripts were included in the final analyses. Reads and citations had poor correlation (r-value 0.32); reads and Altmetric score had negligible correlation (r-value 0.26); and Altmetric score and citations had negligible correlation (r-value 0.07). Year of publication was independently associated with number of citations (β –0.95, p-value <0.01). Manuscript type was independently associated with number of citations (β 1.04, p-value <0.01). Number of reads was independently associated with citations (β 0.01, p-value <0.01). Altmetric score was independently associated with number of citations (β 0.05, p-value <0.01).

This study describes the correlation of reads, citations, and Altmetric score in manuscripts published in Cardiology in the Young, demonstrating poor correlation, at best, between these metrics. Each bibliometric index seems to represent a different phenomenon of manuscript consumption. No single bibliometric index in isolation offers ample representation of manuscript consumption.

To estimate the prevalence of vitamin A deficiency (VAD) in children and associated risk factors.

Analysis of data from a cross-sectional multicentre study performed in the primary care units of the municipalities from January to June 2015. The children’s legal guardians answered a socio-economic questionnaire, and the children’s blood samples were obtained by venipuncture. Plasma retinol was determined by HPLC. Plasma retinol values of <0·70 μmol/l were considered VDA. Poisson multiple regression with robust variance was used. Values of P < 0·05 were considered significant. The data were analysed in the SPSS software, 21.0.

Forty-eight poorest municipalities in the South Region of Brazil.

Children (n 1503) aged 12–59 months.

The prevalence of VAD in the sample was 1·9 % (95 % CI (0·5, 6·8)). The following risk factors were associated with the outcome in the final explanatory model: family received Bolsa Familia program benefits (PR = 3·19; 95 % CI (1·69, 6·02)), child was not being breastfed (PR = 5·22; 95 % CI (1·68, 16·18)) and stunting (PR = 4·75; 95 % CI (2·10, 10·73)).

VAD did not represent a public health problem for children living in socio-economically vulnerable municipalities in the South Region of Brazil, suggesting a new panorama of this nutritional deficiency even in regions of low socio-economic conditions in these three states. Thus, in view of the current nutritional transition scenario, it is necessary to continuously monitor and improve public policies related to vitamin A supplementation in the country.

Infective endocarditis is a major threat after prosthetic pulmonary valve replacement. Early diagnosis may improve outcomes.

A structured patient education programme for prevention and early diagnosis of infective endocarditis was developed at our institution since 2016. Time delay between onset of symptoms of prosthetic pulmonary valve endocarditis and its diagnosis (defined as initiation of appropriate high-dose intravenous antibiotic treatment) was compared for patients presenting before (cohort 1) and after (cohort 2) initiation of the patient education programme.

Between 2008–2019, 26 patients (median age 24.9, range: 16.8–62.0 years, 73% male) were diagnosed with prosthetic pulmonary valve endocarditis, 13 patients (cohort 1) before (1.7 cases/year) and 13 patients (cohort 2) after June 2016 (3.7 cases/year). There were no differences in baseline characteristics or clinical presentation between the study cohorts. Overall, the median delay between onset of symptoms and diagnosis of infective endocarditis was 6 days (range: 0–133 days) with a significantly longer delay among patients in cohort 1, compared to cohort 2 (25 days, range: 5–133 days versus 3 days, range: 0–13 days, p < 0.0001). A delay of >7 days was documented in 11/13 patients (85%) in cohort 1 as compared to 1/13 (8%) in cohort 2 (p < 0.001). Need for urgent valve replacement or permanent deterioration of prosthetic valve function was higher in cohort 1, compared to cohort 2 (11/13, 85% versus 5/13, 39%; p = 0.041).

Prosthetic pulmonary valve endocarditis is increasingly recognised. A structured patient education programme may improve early diagnosis and clinical outcomes.