Sistema Regional de Información
en línea para Revistas Científicas de América Latina,
el Caribe, España y Portugal

The training of medical specialists in Brazil is through the completion of a medical residency program or by conducting a test and obtaining a specialist degree. They are parallel paths and sometimes overlap. In addition, the institutions responsible for these respective specialists training models, which are the National Medical Residency Commission and the Brazilian Medical Association, do not have a unified database. Due to these factors, it has always been difficult to define with any precision the number of family and community doctors in the country. With a recent change in the information system of the National Medical Residency Commission (SIS-CNRM), it was possible to obtain information about certificates of completion of medical residency prior to the creation of the system. Based on these SIS-CNRM data, it was possible to obtain the current number of family and community doctors in the country. The survey of this number, unprecedented for the Brazilian Society of Family and Community Medicine, is an essential element to plan the growth and future of the specialty in the country.

The gap between health needs and the training of human resources for health is much more evident in rural areas. In Brazil, a country of continental dimensions, these differences become more challenging. The diversity of geographical and administrative barriers to access makes the health indicators of rural and remote populations worse than those of the urban population. Family Medicine could address the social determinants of health through the provision of human services and play an important role in low-income rural residents’ health status. This essay is an urgent call for the debate on models for projecting heath workforce supply and requirements for rural areas in Brazil.

Objective: To describe the demographic profile of the patients assisted in the Family Health Strategy of four Brazilian capitals (Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Porto Alegre and Fortaleza) with low back pain and investigate the association between low back pain and depression, anxiety and somatization. Methods: Cross-sectional study with 1857 patients served in the years 2009 (September to November) and 2010 (June to August). Instruments: Screening of somatization (SOMS-2), evaluation of anxiety and depression (HAD), General Questionnaire of the Patient, for sociodemographic data and the Form of the Professional Assistant, with the information regarding the consultations. The low back pain was analyzed from the frequency of three different forms of presentation: auto reference complaint by the patient, symptom recorded by the doctor and diagnosis of backache confirmed by the doctor. Results: 77.3% were women with more than four years of study and per capita income less than a minimum wage and a half. We found significant association of low back pain complaints with anxiety (OR=1.5, 95% IC 1,02-2,16) and somatization (OR=1.8, 95% IC 1,12-2,88) but not with depression. Patients who complained of low back pain, but there was no record of the symptom by the doctor, presented even stronger associations with anxiety (OR=1.6, 95% IC 1,03-2,63) and somatization (OR=2.3, 95% IC 1,33-3,99). Confirmation of the diagnosis of low back pain by the doctor has not been associated significantly with any disorder. Conclusion: Considering low back pain as one of the most prevalence complaints in Primary Care and its significant association with anxiety and Somatization, it is recommended to approach anxiety and somatization in patients with a complaint of low back pain.

Objective: To report the implementation process of rapid tests in Primary Care at the Tubarão city. Methods: Report of experience based on experiences of the authors and in bimonthly interviews to the nurses responsible for the Family Health Strategy and one hospital through a semi-structured questionnaire, with eight months duration. Results: In 2014, the nurses of the Family Health Strategy units and of the other health services received training for the execution of rapid tests for syphilis in pregnant women and considered it satisfactory. However, only one hospital and one Family Health Strategy unit implemented the rapid tests, the others justified non-implantation mainly due to lack of infrastructure and limited human resources. Conclusion: This study showed that the implementation of rapid tests for syphilis is still ongoing, and requires a great effort of various departments of the Ministry of Health and the city government in partnership.

Objective: To achieve a situational diagnosis of the health conditions of the black population in the city of Florianopolis (SC). Methods: It is a survey-type research, descriptive. Data from the health information systems were consulted in the available databases (municipal electronic records, census data and state and national TABNET DATASUS), analyzing the race/color variable, from 2010 to 2016. Results: The results reveal, among black population, worst schooling and income conditions, higher proportion of adolescent mothers, lower number of prenatal consultations, higher proportions of cases of syphilis in pregnant women and tuberculosis, and lower coverage of private health plans. Black patients attended the Psychosocial Care Centers proportionally more than in the Health Centers. Among the three leading causes of life-shortening deaths, AIDS and homicides appear every year among the black population, not appearing in the white population. Perinatal causes also appear only among black people. In 2016, suicide became the third leading cause of death that shortens life in the brown population. Conclusion: The worst health conditions in the black population may reflect also the worst socioeconomic conditions of this population and the institutional racism and the myth of Brazilian racial democracy.

Objective: To evaluate the knowledge about the professionals involved in the National Policy on Black Population Integral Health (PNSIPN) of the Family Health residence programs of Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil. Methods: It is a quantitative, descriptive research with primary data collected through a questionnaire. Results: It is observed that the majority of these professionals know the PNSIPN and considers it important, but never read it. It is also observed the perception that affirmative policies tend to reinforce discrimination, even when all the interviewees believe there is racism in Brazil. Most residents said they did not know the concept of institutional racism. Conclusion: Residence proved to be a failed formative process in this theme.

Objectives: To investigate the factors related to early weaning before six months of life. Methods: This is an exploratory, descriptive, quantitative approach, based on a semi-structured form carried out with 52 mothers of children from 0 to 6 months of age who were no longer in Exclusive Breastfeeding (EB), belonging to Family Health Strategies of urban centers of the municipality of Santo Antônio do Monte, midwest of Minas Gerais. Results: Most of the participants were young mothers, married, primiparous, insecure, with unplanned pregnancies, performed prenatal consultations periodically, interrupted the EB between the fourth and fifth month of the child’s life. Most indicated guidance by health professionals as a facilitator for adherence to the EB. Conclusion: Labor activities, beliefs about breast milk being weak or insufficient for the baby and misinterpretation of crying of the newborn are among the causes found for early weaning. We emphasize the implementation of strategies and educational actions that prioritize the resolution of the highlighted factors, and especially, that seek to improve the bond with this public.

Objective: The study aimed to investigate the prevalence of Burnout syndrome in physicians of the Family Heath Strategy at Montes Claros, MG, and the association with work stress, effort-reward imbalance and quality of life. Methods: Epidemiologic, quantitative, web-based, analytical and cross-sectional research. The self-administered questionnaire Maslach Burnout Inventory was applied to 89 physicians to diagnose the syndrome. The physicians also provided sociodemographic data and responded the Job Stress Scale, the Imbalance-Effort-Reward scale and the WHOQOL-BREF for identification of work conditions. The categoric variables were analyzed by frequency distribution. The association between variables of risk factors and the presence of Burnout syndrome was tested by the Pearson’s chi-square test. Results: 100% of the physicians evaluated exhibited moderate Burnout syndrome. The scores for the Exhaustion and Depersonalization dimensions, which are components of the inventory for Burnout Syndrome assessment, were positively correlated with high psychological and professional demands, high strain and effort, excess commitment to the job and imbalanced effort-reward ratio. They were also associated with attributes of quality of life such as poor physical, social and environmental conditions. Conclusion: Preventive and intervention actions are required to decrease work-related stress of the evaluated physicians, thereby decreasing Burnout syndrome prevalence.

This editorial aims to present the main conclusions of the articles published in the Medical Residency Special Edition of the Brazilian Journal of Family and Community Medicine in 2018. These articles point to the importance of the Family and Community Medicine Residency (RMMFC) in the consolidation of Primary Health Care in Brazil, bringing significant discussions on competency-based curricula, teaching-learning tools, preceptorship policy, municipal policy challenges, organization of local health care networks, financial sustainability of the implementation of the RMMFC and proposals for new areas of actuation for the family physician. In the last years, there was a significant expansion of RMMFC in Brazil, being necessary greater investments in strengthening PHC, preceptorship and continuous update of the competency matrices expected for the Family and Community Medicine.