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Biomedical subjects

N Bordoni

Publications and source records attributed to N Bordoni.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Knowledge, behavior, and attitudes of adolescent university students towards HIV infection and AIDS.

UNLABELLED: The aim of this study was to evaluate the knowledge, behavior, and attitudes of students entering the University of Buenos Aires (UBA) towards HIV/AIDS, as well as to determine the differences between genders and between groups with different behavior in terms of HIV/AIDS risk behavior, through the conduct of an ad hoc semi-structured questionnaire. This questionnaire was completed anonymously by 12,000 university students going in for compulsory medical check-up at the Health and Social Welfare Office of the UBA. Two thousand cases were selected by simple randomized sampling and statistically analyzed. Results revealed that: (1) 87.2% of the population under study was between 18 and 27 years old; (2) the students' knowledge of the subject was acceptable; (3) the percentage of respondents who reported having sexual intercourse with more than one person decreased as the number of sexual partners in a year increased. Less than 1.5% explicitly stated being homosexual or bisexual; (4) 53.9% of the men and 46.7% of the women claimed they always used condoms; (5) analysis of the perception of their own risk showed that 75% considered they were not at risk; (6) between 95.8% and 98% were in favor of developing educational-preventive activities and 64.2% thought compulsory AIDS screening for job applicants or candidates for educational courses was discrimination. CONCLUSIONS: (a) Information available to admission course students is sufficient. However, there are contradictions in their responses about their own behaviors; (b) Most of the respondents are in favor of the corresponding Faculties implementing educational and preventive measures. The students would regard the University's intervention as a way of fulfilling its social role.

Adolescent↗

Oral health of children from rural excluded villages (Trancas and Calchaqui valleys. Tucumán, Argentina).

UNLABELLED: The general hypothesis of the study was to evaluate strategically important rural areas to confirm their characteristics of "excluded population" and identify the priorities to allocate human and financial resources of the international co-operation project. The aim of this study was to establish the degree of development of villages in the Trancas and Calchaqui valleys, and the oral health of children living in areas involved in an integral study on excluded villages in the northwest of Argentina. These villages are considered a priority in the UNIR Project; they are thus strategically important as a link with countries of the MERCOSUR. Data on living conditions were obtained through direct inquiries (Project UNIR, W. K. Kellogg Foundation/University of Tucumán) and from data supplied by the Ministry of Economy, by the Ministry of Culture and Education and by the SIEMPRO project of the Secretariat of Social Development of the Ministry of Health. The Human Development Index (HDI) was calculated as World Bank criteria (1995), The studies on dental conditions were carried out in all the children between 12 and 14 years old, that is a total of 58 in the Trancas Valley and 212 in the Calchaqui Valley. RESULTS: (1) The HDI was 0.731 for the province, 0.56 for the Trancas Valley and 0.51 for Calchaqui valley. (2) The results are above the values for the country in the first case, and below the average country values for the valleys. (3) The percentage of BNN families reached 92%. The results for oral health show: (4) the DMFT were 6.34 +/- 0.07 in the Trancas Valley and 7.47 +/- 0.276 in the Calchaquí valley. (5) Carious teeth (CT) were the most important component of this index. (6) The absence of a specific and preventive assistance. CONCLUSIONS: (a) Children between 12 and 14 living in the Valleys of Trancas and Calchaqui (Tucumán, Argentina) are affected by severe levels of caries, with values above the national and province means. (b) The human development index is below that of the corresponding national and province levels. (c) Inhabitants of these valleys can be identified as socially and biologically highly vulnerable. (d) The indicators of cariogenic risk reveal the importance of introducing oral preventive care components to the health plan for the area focused on the excluded population.

Adolescent↗

Relation between demographic and epidemiological characteristics and permanency under a dental health care program for HIV infected patients.

The association between factors involved in health care and the health status of the people has been proven. The use of health care services, particularly in the case of patients who suffer from chronic pathologies, has been the object of many studies aimed at establishing factors which contribute to guarantee permanence in treatment and implementation of health care controls. The purpose of the present study was to identify the response of HIV infected or AIDS patients to the oral health care program and establish the association between permanence in treatment and the presence of risk factors, epidemiological or demographic conditions of the users. Ninety patients selected at random from the 300 who attended the Clinic for High Risk Patient Care, School of Dentistry, University of Buenos Aires (CLAPAR, Spanish acronym) during 1994-1995 were included in this study. The patients were assigned to one of seven groups, according to their permanence in treatment and commitment to the program during the phase of maintenance in health. Each of these categories was characterized in terms of age, sex, educational level, place of residence (CIRFS, 1990), type of job, type of health coverage and place where healthcare was received, risk behavior and date of positive serological diagnosis. The frequency of each variable was established. Contingency tables were employed to establish the statistical significance of the association between the different variables and the patient categories. The data revealed that 24.2% of the patients performed occasional or emergency consultation, 57.1% achieved discharge with or without the assistance of the social worker or are still in treatment and 18.7% abandoned the program. Significant association were found between the response to odontological treatment and the following variables: place of residence, date of positive serological diagnosis, and risk behavior. We may conclude that certain demographic, epidemiological or life-related factors would be linked to the response to odontological treatment.

Adolescent↗

Effect of self-brushing with acidulated phosphate fluoride (pH 5.6) on dental caries in children.

The aim of this work was to study the effect of a preventive program on the dental plaque and on the caries incidence in school children. The program comprised weekly supervised self brushing with acidulated phosphate fluoride (APF) gel (pH 5.6; concentration: 4520 ppm of ion F-). The program involved 240 children of 1st., 3rd and 5th grade of a primary school in the City of Buenos Aires (Argentina). The population was divided in 2 groups: A (experimental) and B (control). Ninety children from both groups (45 experimental and 45 control) were submitted to baseline clinical examination (DMFT and plaque index) and microbiological analysis (total streptococci, St mutans and St. mutans and St. mutans percentage). Group A was then submitted to a preventive program which included self brushing with APF gel (4520 ppm of ion F-). The 90-children sample was monitored after 1 and 2 years of program. Results were statistically processed and they revealed the following: a--DMFT was significantly greater in the control group than in the experimental group after 1 and 2 years of program; b--an 81.43% reduction in caries increment rate at the end of the 2-years program in the experimental group as compared to the control group; c--a rise in the number of colonies of total streptococci and of St. Mutans; d--a reduction in the % of St. mutans in the total streptococci flora in the plaque of children in the experimental group; e--the presence of St. mutans colonies featuring a rough surface; f--the effectiveness of the program in the modifying the profile of the diagnosed dental pathology.

Acidulated Phosphate Fluoride↗