Objective: To study variations in climate (dry or rainy periods) and health services use for the treatment of asthma in children under five years of age. Methods: An ecological study was conducted and involved analysis of the medical charts of all children under the age of five that were diagnosed with asthma and treated in the Municipal Emergency Room of the city of Cuiabá, located in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil. In accordance with the geographic location of Cuiabá, two climatic periods were identified: a dry season (from May to October) and a rainy season (from November to April). Results: The percentage of children treated that were diagnosed with asthma was 12.2% (3140/25,802), with no gender-based difference. Children from 3 to 5 years of age were most often affected. The overall asthma hospitalization rate was 1.3% (336/25,802), rising to 10.7% (336/3140) among the asthmatic children treated in the emergency room. In the rainy season, the percentage of outpatients seeking treatment for asthma was higher than in the dry season: 39.1% (1228/3140) versus 60.9% (1912/3140). However, during the dry season, a greater proportion of such patients were hospitalized: 52.3% (176/336) versus 47.7% (160/336). These differences were statistically significant (p < 0.05). Conclusions: The dry season, which was correlated with higher asthma hospitalization rates, seems to be related to more severe cases of asthma in children under five years of age.

Keywords: Asthma/prevention & control; Allergens/adverse effects; Respiratory hypersensitivity; Environmental monitoring;

Introduction: Data on the relationship between personality profile and nicotine addiction may help health professionals in the design and improvement of programs for the treatment and prevention of addiction. Objective: To investigate the relationship between the personality profile and nicotine addiction in a group of smoking undergraduate students. Methods: A total of 1,245 undergraduate students were randomly selected among 10,500 students enrolled at the UFMT - Cuiabá campus in 2001. A standard questionnaire was applied for social characterization and to determine the pattern of cigarette consumption, with 80 students being considered smokers. These students were then submitted to the Fagerström Test (1978) of nicotine addiction and to the reduced version of the Comrey Personality Scale (CPS) which determines personality dimensions. Results: Analysis of the mean scores (Student t-test) revealed a marginal or inversely proportional borderline association between addiction and the Order x Lack of Compulsion scale (p = 0.06), and a negative or inversely proportional association between the CPS Extroversion x Introversion (p = 0.002) and Control of Validity scales (p = 0.04). Linear regression of the Fagerström Test points confirmed the inversely proportional borderline association between addiction and the Order x Lack of Compulsion (p = 0.06) and CPS Extroversion x Introversion scales (p = 0.02). However, controlling for interference of daily cigarette consumption, only the Extroversion x Introversion scale remained associated with addiction (p = 0.001). Conclusions: Smoker and nicotine dependent students are less extrovert than non-dependent smokers.

Objective: To analyze factors predictive of noncompliance with pulmonary tuberculosis treatment. Methods: A historical cohort study involving 481 of the 529 active tuberculosis patients registered with the Tuberculosis Control Program in the city of Cuiabá, located in the state of Mato Grosso, during the 1998-2000 period. Data were obtained by analyzing medical charts and registration records. In the bivariate analysis, the chi-square test was used to calculate noncompliance rate ratios (relative risk), 95% confidence intervals were determined, and Fisher's exact test was used. The choice to estimate the rate of incidence was the method of density and a multivariate logistic regression model was constructed in order to identify the variables that were most predictive of noncompliance, using a level of statistical significance of p < 0.05. Results: The global rate of incidence was 27.3%, equivalent to 5.1 noncompliant patients/100 patients/month, increasing in the second and third months of treatment. In the final logistic regression model, the following were considered predictors of noncompliance: unsupervised treatment (odds ratio: 2.58; 95% confidence interval: 1.64 - 4.06; p < 0.001); having been treated during the 1998-1999 period (odds ratio: 1.43; 95% confidence interval: 1.14 - 1.80; p = 0.002); being male (odds ratio: 1.39; 95% confidence interval: 1.10 - 1.76; p = 0.005) and having been out of compliance with previous treatment regimes (odds ratio: 1.37; 95% confidence interval: 1.06 - 1.78; p < 0.017). Conclusion: The results indicate an elevated incidence of noncompliance and show that unsupervised treatment, year in which treatment was received, male gender and prior noncompliance were predictors of future noncompliance.

Keywords: Tuberculosis, pulmonary/therapy; Treatment refusal; Cohort studies