Perfil epidemiológico de uma população de adolescentes na atenção básica

Abstract

Adolescents assisted in basic health care require specific actions to attend their needs. From this perspective, a cross sectional study was performed in a basic health unit Fatima in the city of Pelotas/RS, southern Brazil. This unit is maintained by Catholic University of Pelotas and by municipal administration and offers training for students of several areas such as Medicine, Nursing, Psychology, Social Service, Physiotherapy and Dentistry. The aim of this study was to describe the epidemiologic characteristics of adolescents between 10 and 19 years, aged classified as adolescence according to the Ministry of Health. Took part of this research 218 adolescents, male 121 (55,5%) and female 97 (44,5%). Searches were conducted in databases Pubmed, Scielo and Google Scholar. A structured questionnaire was used to collect demographic characteristics, sexual behavior, sedentary life style, eating habits, psychiatric disorder (depression), smoking, alcohol and drug use. Data analysis is important since behavior and attitudes acquired during adolescence are likely to continue throughout adult life. These findings can lead us to point out strategies in order to improve the service offered according to this population needs.