Browsing by Author "Samorinha, C"
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- Exposição das crianças ao fumo ambiental do tabaco (FAT): avaliação de uma intervenção preventivaPublication . Precioso, J; Samorinha, C; Calheiros, JM; Macedo, M; Antunes, H; Campos, HTo evaluate the effectiveness of the preventative programme "Smoke-free Homes" undertaken in 4th year children and their parents or guardians, aiming to reduce children's exposure to second hand smoke (SHS) in the home. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This was a pre- and post-test pre-experimental study, in students from 32 Braga district primary schools 2007/08. A self-administered and structured questionnaire was given out to 795 students in the classroom before and after the programme. In analysing data, we used the chi-squared test for the categorical variables. RESULTS: The rate of children exposed to regular or occasional SHS due to living with at least one smoker dropped from 42.2% to 32.6% (p=0.001). The percentage of students, children of smokers who stated that their father smoked regularly or occasionally at home, dropped from 68.0% pre-test to 51.6% posttest (p=0.000). No significant reduction was seen in mothers. CONCLUSION: Based on the data, we can conclude that the "Smoke-free Homes" programme was effective in preventing smoking in the home, and therefore reducing the rate of children exposed to SHS by about 10%. However, it appears that about a third of children are still exposed, which highlights the need for further measures in this area. Healthcare professionals, particularly those working in Paediatrics, should advise parents to quit smoking, especially in the home.
- Exposição das crianças ao fumo ambiental do tabaco em casa e no carroPublication . Precioso, J; Araújo; Machado, J; Samorinha, C; Calheiros, J; Becoña, E; Ravara, S; Vitória, P; Rosas, M; Bonito, J; Antunes, H
- Prevalence of secondhand smoke exposure in asthmatic children at home and in the car: A cross-sectional studyPublication . Antunes, H; Precioso, J; Araújo, AC; Machado, JC; Samorinha, C; Rocha, V; Gaspar, Â; Becoña, E; Belo-Ravara, S; Vitória, P; Rosas, M; Fernandez, EOBJECTIVE: To compare secondhand smoke exposure (SHSe) prevalence at home and inside the car between asthmatic and non-asthmatic Portuguese children. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study that assessed children's SHSe in a representative sample of nine Portuguese cities. A validated self-reported questionnaire was administered to a random sample of 4th grade students during the school year of 2010/2011. The asthma prevalence was defined by the answers to three questions regarding asthma symptoms, medication and inhaler use. We performed chi-square tests and analysed frequencies, contingency tables, confidence intervals, and odd-ratios. RESULTS: The self-reported questionnaire was administered to 3187 students. Asthma prevalence was 14.8% (472 students). Results showed that 32.3% of non-asthmatic children and 32.4% of asthmatic children were exposed to secondhand smoke as at least one of their household members smoked at home. The prevalence of parental smoking, smoking among fathers and smoking among mothers at home was also similar in both groups (asthmatic and non-asthmatic children). SHSe inside the car was 18.6% among non-asthmatic children and 17.9% among asthmatic children. CONCLUSIONS: Asthmatic and non-asthmatic children were equally exposed to secondhand smoke, because no significant differences were found between the two groups concerning the prevalence of SHSe at home and inside the car. These findings highlight the need to include SHSe brief advice in paediatric asthma management.
- Prevalência do consumo de tabaco em adolescentes escolarizados portugueses por sexo: podemos estar otimistas?Publication . Precioso, J; Samorinha, C; Macedo, M; Antunes, HAbstract INTRODUCTION: According to the MPOWER approach adopted in 2008 by the WHO, monitoring smoking epidemics is necessary in order to assess the effectiveness of the preventive measures used in smoking control in adolescents and adults. OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence of smoking in Portuguese school-aged adolescents by region. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The sample is made up of 8764 students, 4060 boys and 4704 girls, and is representative of the Portuguese students in regular public education. The data was collected in the 2008/2009 academic year, through a quantitative self-report questionnaire. RESULTS: In the total sample, 10.2% of boys and 9.1% of girls are regular smokers. Smoking increases with age. At 15 years old 12.3% of the boys and 8.6% of the girls are regular smokers and 6.1% of the boys and 4.0% of the girls are occasional smokers. Looking at prevalence by region, the highest prevalence of regular smoking is found in Alentejo (14.7%), followed by Azores (11.8%) and the lowest is found in Algarve (4.1%). CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of smokers among Portuguese school-aged adolescents varies within the several regions of the country, similar to what happens in the adult Portuguese population.
- Smoke-free homes programme : past, present and futurePublication . Precioso, J; Calheiros, J; Samorinha, C; Antunes, H; Machado, JE; Macedo, M; Bonito, J; Vitória, P; Ravara, SChildhood exposure to Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) is associated with serious health problems. Despite the recognised severity of childhood exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), several studies show high prevalence of exposed children in the world and also in Portugal. In order to protect children of this serious health hazard an ETS type preventive programme, “Smoke free-homes”, was developed and tested in Portugal. Its main purpose is to increase the number of parents who do not smoke and / or to reinforce the norm of not allowing smoking at home and in the car, enabling “participant students” to proactively promote parents’ behaviour change and effectively reduce or avoid ETS home exposure. This is a school based programme, to be applied in the classroom by teachers. A exposição das crianças ao Fumo Ambiental do Tabaco (FAT) está associada a graves problemas de saúde. Apesar da evidência científica sobre a gravidade da exposição das crianças ao FAT, muitos estudos mostram que existe uma elevada percentagem de crianças expostas ao FAT no Mundo (aproximadamente 50%) e também em Portugal (40% segundo alguns estudos realizados). Com o objectivo de proteger as crianças desta agressão, foi desenhado em Portugal o programa de prevenção denominado “Domicílios Livres de Fumo”. A sua principal finalidade é aumentar a prevalência de pais e mães que não fumam (e/ou não permitam que se fume) em casa e no carro. O programa foi desenhado para ser aplicado nas salas de aulas, pelos professores.