Editorial
José da Rocha Carvalheiro
The Revista Brasileira de Epidemiologia (RBE) is ending its sixth year "on top of the world." In 2003 it switched to quarterly release, has been on time and published the fourth issue within the expected month, December.
All ten original articles in this issue, number 6(4), followed the conventional procedure: spontaneous demand and regular peer review process by (generally three) ad hoc reviewers appointed by one of the associate editors managing the process.
There is only one article written by a single author and another one by a larger group with nine participants, continuing the standard RBE has been following. Most articles were submitted by groups of two to four authors, with an average of 3.6.
Albeit with an understandable geographical concentration in each group of authors, the groups always included one or more contributors from different institutions, in Brazil or abroad. Large regional diversity can be seen in the origin of research groups and study sites when primary or secondary source data are collected.
One of the studies, performed in Pelotas, analyzes the biological and social determinants of dental caries in children in a transversal model, nested in a cohort of newborns. It uses logistic regression in a theoretical, hierarchical determination model. It was written by a group composed of authors from the Universidade Federal de Pelotas (Pelotas Federal University), and others from the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (Federal University of Santa Catarina), from Universidade de São Paulo (University of São Paulo), from University College London and from a center in Montevideo, Uruguay.
Another contribution from the South of the country was a study evaluating health services performed with thirteen antenatal and delivery procedures used as markers. Although the study was carried out with a sample of children from Criciúma, Santa Catarina, the authors are from the Universidade de Pelotas (Pelotas Federal University), from the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul), from the Universidade de São Paulo (University of São Paulo) and from CNBB (Confederação Nacional dos Bispos do Brasil- National Confederation of the Bishops of Brazil).
Two studies were performed in Rio de Janeiro, one of them by researchers from UERJ (State University of Rio de Janeiro), and the other with ties to Hospital FIOCRUZ (The Oswaldo Cruz Foundation Hospital). It analyzes folate consumption and deficiency in pregnant women. The other study was performed by a group of researchers from UFRJ (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro) and by an epidemiologist from a major public hospital of the Ministry of Health. They carried out a hepatitis A seroprevalence survey in a sample of children in the city of Duque de Caxias, in the metropolitan area of Rio de Janeiro.
Three other studies were performed in the state of São Paulo, two in the capital and the third in five other cities. One of the studies, by authors from the University of São Paulo (USP), uses secondary sources to analyze mortality due to infectious diseases in the city of São Paulo in the beginning (1901), middle (1960) and end (2000) of the 20th century. Another study, based on data from SIM and SINASC, refers to a 1998 cohort, and analyzes the determinants of neonatal and post-neonatal mortality in the city of São Paulo. Both authors have PhDs from foreign universities (Johns Hopkins in the US and London University in the United Kingdom) and are linked to UFMG (Federal University of Minas Gerais) and the Bloomberg School of Public Health. The third study, a qualitative-quantitative investigation using the Collective Subject Discourse method, was carried out in 5 cities in the state of São Paulo, by authors from USP.
One study, performed by authors from USP, developed a quantitative food frequency questionnaire aimed at case-control studies on the association of diet and cancer. The recall survey was carried out in a sample of women in João Pessoa, in Paraíba.
From Ribeirão Preto, SP, teachers from USP sent considerations on the utilization of Bayesian methods in the study of the prevalence of tuberculosis.
An author from UFCE (Federal University of Ceará) sent in theoretical, methodological and epistemological comments, associating production, work, environment and health. She creates a very interesting metaphor with "combining the green and the red" in the title of the study.
We also highlight the Special Editorial on Ethics in Research with human beings, written by Professor Dirceu Bartolomeu Greco, from UFMG. In September, Prof. Greco was at the World Medical Association meeting held in the same location as the Declaration of Helsinki. At the meeting held in August at the Brazilian Medical Council (CFM), he was chosen to present a proposal on behalf of Brazil. He opposed the trend to "moderate" the Declaration, in regard to access to medical care for volunteers in clinical studies. In addition to the CFM, other organizations such as the Brazilian Society of Bioethics, CONEP of the National Board of Health, the National STD/AIDS Coordination and its anti-HIV vaccine committee, the Brazilian Medical Association and the Department of Science and Technology (DECIT/MS) were present at the meeting in Brasília. The Editor of the RBE represented ABRASCO. The position taken to Helsinki by Prof. Greco was victorious, contributing to the avoidance of the intended "moderation" and causing the subject to be submitted to an international committee of five member-nations, including Brazil represented by Prof. Greco. In addition to the special editorial on the subject, we included the official communication from the World Medical Association. Such a passionate subject demands deep reflection. We hope to begin a forthright debate in the pages of the RBE.
Finally, in the news section, we call the readers' attention to the Seminar for Constructing the National Agenda for Health Research Priorities, held in Brasília in November, 2003. ABRASCO took an active part in all 18 groups that analyzed the sub-agendas, especially the one for Epidemiology, coordinated by Rita Barata, former-President of the Association.
Enjoy your reading,
The Editor
Publication Dates
-
Publication in this collection
05 Apr 2005 -
Date of issue
Dec 2003
