Analysis of the distribution of motorcycle-related mortality rates in Brazilian municipalities is fundamental to understand and seek to minimize the occurrence of this growing phenomenon. The main objective of this work is to analyze the spatial distribution of motorcycle rider mortality rates in Brazil, based on more robust and reliable estimates. An attempt was also made to identify the presence of spatial clusters in the distribution of such mortality rates in given municipalities. The rates were estimated based on the average number of motorcyclist deaths recorded in the years 2014, 2015 and 2016. These rates were then directly standardized and graduated based on the local empirical Bayesian estimator. A Local Indicator of Spatial Autocorrelation (LISA) indicated the presence of spatial patterns. The Northeast and Mid-West regions concentrated most of the municipalities with high mortality rates as well and most of the clusters of municipalities with a high-high distribution pattern. Graduated Bayesian estimation was effective to deal with the occurrence of extreme values, thereby improving the reliability of the estimates and enhancing the visualization of the rates on the map.

The scope of this article is to analyze the reliability of the diagnoses of hospital admissions for external causes financed by the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS). The diagnoses for hospital admissions from the Hospital Information System (SIH-SUS) data were compared with those from the research panel created from information culled from authorizations for hospital admission (AIH) complemented with information from other sources. The reliability was analyzed in groups using crude agreement and Kappa statistics. The crude agreement was 41.1% in Londrina and 15.8% in Maringá and the highest reliability was found for groupings for self-inflicted lesions and traffic accidents in Londrina (Kappa 0.57 and 0.56) while in Maringá reliability was acceptable for self-inflicted lesions (Kappa 0.28). The low agreement with differentiated standards according to groupings of causes and according to the municipalities highlight the fact that efforts must be made to improve the quality and use of the SIH-SUS in order to understand and intervene in accidents and violence in Brazil.

The scope of this paper is to describe the relationship between health production, urban growth and environmental degradation in the community of the "Urban Expansion Zone" of Aracaju in the State of Sergipe. It also touches on the impacts on the health of the population due to tourism and real estate speculation associated with the absence of basic services. Based on the assumption that illnesses caused by such changes only appear on the public health care system as a worsening of symptoms, neglecting the complex health-environment relationship, this paper highlights the possibility of pondering the bases upon which urban growth occurs in the light of imminent environmental degradation. The activities of health community agents were monitored duly connecting them to regional growth and environmental degradation. This was done from March 2010 and June 2011 adopting the ethnographic perspective as the method of choice. Other ways of inclusion in the community were mapped: contact with older residents, religious leaderships and the members of the traditional professions, etc. The results show the changes that have been occurring in the region, especially with respect to the extinction of traditional practices, increase in violence, unemployment, loss of community ties and illness.

A cross-sectional comparative study was conducted on the nutritional evolution of severely obese patients who are candidates for bariatric surgery attended by the Unified Health System (SUS) and the Supplemental Health Network (RS). The average preoperative follow-up period was 14.3 ± 7.7 months in the SUS and 2.4 ± 1.7 months in the RS. There was a predominance of females among patients attended by the SUS (80.6%) and by the RS (75.7%). A significant reduction in weight, BMI and waist circumference (WC) and total cholesterol values of patients of both health networks was observed. Patients attended by the SUS showed no significant decrease in LDL, Triglycerides and Fasting Glycemia, while patients assisted by the RS showed a significant reduction of these values. The greater weight loss among SUS patients is explained by the fact that they had been monitored for a longer period. The insignificant reduction of most biochemical indicators of SUS patients can be justified by the fact that they had a more advanced degree of obesity.

Psycho-social Care Centers (PCC) are also designed to coordinate actions in mental health care in Brazil, mainly at Primary Health Care (PHC) level. Matrix support is one of the pillars of the program, as it aims to ensure assistance of specialized back-up staff to the health teams. In this respect, this research seeks to understand how matrix actions in mental health contribute to the accessibility and resolution of mental health cases. This study involved qualitative research conducted in the cities of Fortaleza and Sobral in the State of Ceará, where 37 (thirty-seven) mental health workers, 14 (fourteen) primary health care users and 13 (thirteen) relatives who took part in matrix support actions were interviewed. As the results revealed, the PHC workers do not feel qualified to intervene in mental health cases. There is also excess haste in referring users to PCCs making access to mental health care more difficult. However, it was identified that discussions on mental health in primary care allow the appropriation of cases by PHC workers and promote rapprochement between the teams. In this way, they influence the resolution of mental health cases.

Social policy councils began to be set up in municipalities in Brazil in the 1990s, first in the health care sector, then spreading to other sectors, for the purpose of including civil society in municipal policy management. Among the advances, studies revealed the formation of a network of government and non-government actors for the resolution of problems in the sector. Among the challenges, there was the limitation of the participation of government programs to a critical approval. This paper addresses the participation of councilors and representatives of civil society in the Health Council as being included in a network that includes councils and civil society organizations in a small municipality. Based on semi-structured interviews with councilors representing civil society, two dimensions of participation are analyzed. The first is the relationship between demand for participation generated by the simultaneous activity of various sectorial councils and the participatory basis existing in the city. The second is the relationship between the issues that the respondents identified and their role as councilors. Lastly, the article discusses the potential of municipal councils in contributing to an intersectorial management of the city's problems.

The restructuring of productive systems and economic globalization are directly impacting the basic social rights of workers. In the semi-peripheral countries such as Brazil, where the wage-based society and the consolidation of social rights are not completely implemented, this process of change in the world of labor contributes to aggravate the inequality in the capital-labor relationship and hampers access to employment. By means of a critical review of the scientific literature regarding changes in the world of labor and its impact on the organization and production of health services in Brazil, this article pinpoints the weakness of regulation of the labor market in Brazil, especially in the health sector. It also stresses the need to increase the debate on new forms of institutionalization of the labor relationship in order to ensure equity in the workplace and protect the rights to work and in the workplace.

One of the consequences of increased life expectancy is the increase in the elderly population in many countries, including Brazil. Considering the vulnerability of this age group and the increasing prevalence of violence against the elderly, there is a pressing need for research and control interventions to minimize the phenomenon. This exploratory and descriptive article conducts an analysis into this topic in indexed Brazilian studies in SciELO, with special emphasis on the last five years. The themes were categorized into: Social construction and conceptualizations, 37.5%; Elderly Care and Protection Policies, 43.75%; and Typology of violence against the elderly, 18.75%. The results show that the Policy of protection of the elderly permeates the majority of discussions about violence in old age and the focus of the researchers' attention is on domestic violence, which needs to be broadened in field research.

A tool is proposed to monitor the performance of Health Surveillance at state level and strategies for broadening its use. The use of participatory methodologies in all stages of monitoring is recommended, from designing the tool to the analysis and interpretation of indicators. This can be a way of involving stakeholders and improving their joint responsibilities in decision-making, thus increasing the use of the monitoring tool. The monitoring instrument was built after the design of the logical model of the management of health surveillance and indicators of each component of management were submitted to a validation process. Monitoring is understood as a reflexive practice that promotes personal and institutional learning, continuous enhancement of management processes, greater transparency and accountability, besides its operational use for decision making.

This study sought to evaluate the impact of nutritional assistance (intervention) on total gestational weight gain in adolescents and to understand the perceptions of adolescents regarding the intervention. It is a quantitative and qualitative survey using triangulation methods conducted in a public maternity hospital in Rio de Janeiro with 204 adolescents, divided into pre-intervention and intervention groups. The hypothesis of homogeneity of proportions was tested by bivariate and multivariate analysis using Poisson regression with robust variance. The qualitative approach was conducted using semi-structured interviews with 12 adolescents, whose data were submitted to content analysis. The results indicate that the intervention did not have a positive effect on the adequacy of total gestational weight gain. The adolescents perceived the dietary plan as a set of rules incompatible with their conditions as pregnant women. The category "almost every consultation was the same" emerged as a synthesis of the perceptions on the intervention. It was concluded that there is a need to reassess the technical and scientific marker tools of nutritional assistance and turn it into care focused around making shared decisions.