SUMMARY OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to describe the profile of patients with oropharyngeal dysphagia in a teaching hospital in the public health system in northern Brazil. METHODS: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study. All procedures of this study were approved by the ethics committee. A convenience sample composed of participants aged >18 years, of both sexes, with any underlying pathology admitted to the medical clinic on exclusive oral feeding, alternatively enteral or gastric tube feeding (Gastrostomy), or associated by both routes, whose swallowing assessment was performed by a Speech-Language Pathologist. Data from the database/medical records were investigated from March 2020 to September 2021. RESULTS: The sample consisted of 44 patients diagnosed with oropharyngeal dysphagia, with a higher frequency of males (63.64%) aged over 60 years (70.45%). Almost half of the evaluated patients were diagnosed with neurological disorders (47.73%) and had dysphagia associated with other underlying diseases (31.82%). Excluding patients with neurological disorders, trauma/polytrauma, and respiratory disorders from the last group, some patients (11.36%) had two concomitant underlying diseases. CONCLUSION: According to the sample of this study, the profile of oropharyngeal dysphagia patients includes pneumonia, respiratory failure, bronchoaspiration, and the consequent need for ventilatory support.

SUMMARY OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to suggest a care protocol for foreign-body ingestion, address the clinical aspects, and identify the ingested object, severity, and professional conduct. METHODS: This is a qualitative study. We used books and original articles published in national and international journals (BIREME, SCIELO, LILACS, and MEDLINE/PubMed) in Portuguese, Spanish, and English. RESULTS: The ingestion of a radiolucent object should be evaluated radiographically and with endoscopy for cases with symptoms of impaction and radiolucent objects. Coins are the most commonly involved foreign bodies. In asymptomatic patients, it often requires only a conservative form of management. Ingestion of batteries, magnets, and sharp objects carries a high risk of serious clinical complications and should have an endoscopic or surgical approach. In view of this, each pediatric emergency service, based on these recommendations, has the possibility to develop an individual protocol to identify and remove the ingested foreign body. CONCLUSIONS: Protocol of care for foreign-body ingestion in children depends on the object ingested, time of ingestion, symptoms, and local epidemiological context. This study provides some suggestions for decision-making in the conduct of health professionals.

SUMMARY OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess the quality of primary health care services through self-reports by caregivers of children and adolescents living in quilombola communities in Brazil. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study in accordance with the STROBE (STrengthening the Reporting of OBservational studies in Epidemiology). Exposure variables included sociodemographic characteristics; and outcome variable was the quality of primary health care offered to quilombola children and adolescents. RESULTS: A total of 68 individuals participated in the survey. Quilombolas have a low income, a lower level of education, do not work, and receive government benefits. Our results showed that the quality of primary health care, measured by the experience of caregivers of quilombola children and adolescents, generally presents satisfactory values. CONCLUSION: The quality of primary health care has generally satisfactory values. However, as these results differ from most studies, more research should be conducted.

SUMMARY OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of a Pilates program on the perception of quality of life of leprosy patients suffering from physical disabilities and who are undergoing treatment or who have been discharged. METHODS This is an experimental study in which 48 participants were included; however, the final sample consisted of 5 participants. We performed a standardized and systematic dermatological–neurological examination to define the Eye-Hand-Foot score. Comparisons between preintervention and postintervention were performed using the paired t and Wilcoxon tests with a significance level of 0.05. RESULTS We did not find significant values for the quality-of-life outcome in the domains and skills observed. We identified a significant value for the level of physical activity after the intervention. CONCLUSIONS Quality of life between preintervention and postintervention with the Pilates program did not show significant improvement through self-report.