Research Group in Nutritional Sciences, School of Health and Biosciences, Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná, Maringá, Paraná, Brazil,
J Community Health. 2014 Feb;39(1):17-22. doi: 10.1007/s10900-013-9734-5.
The presence of chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) among vulnerable populations is a rarely discussed subject. Thus, the present cross-sectional descriptive study aimed to analyse the health conditions and access to public health services of 268 waste pickers in southern Brazil. Regarding NCDs, their prevalence of hypertension was 32.8 %, diabetes 11.4 %, dyslipidemia 16.4 %, overweight 51.1 %, obesity 25.7 % and abdominal obesity 57.8 %. Regarding access to health services, 36.9 % of the sample had not consulted with a doctor in more than 1 year, 15.7 % had no access to a healthcare unit, 7.5 % had never measured their blood pressure, 45.9 % had never had a glucose test, and 61.2 % had never had a triglyceride test. The statistical analysis showed that whereas men had gone longer since their last medical consultation and blood pressure measurement, women had increased frequencies of overweight, abdominal obesity, awareness of their hypertension and use of anti-hypertensive drugs (p < 0.05). Therefore, the health profile of waste pickers is critical, with a high prevalence of NCDs and poor healthcare usage. Strategies to improve monitoring and treatment are recommended.
脆弱人群中存在慢性非传染性疾病（NCDs），这是一个很少被讨论的话题。因此，本横断面描述性研究旨在分析巴西南部 268 名拾荒者的健康状况和获得公共卫生服务的情况。关于 NCDs，其高血压患病率为 32.8%，糖尿病为 11.4%，血脂异常为 16.4%，超重为 51.1%，肥胖为 25.7%，腹型肥胖为 57.8%。关于获得卫生服务的情况，36.9%的样本超过 1 年没有咨询过医生，15.7%没有获得医疗单位的服务，7.5%从未测量过血压，45.9%从未进行过血糖测试，61.2%从未进行过甘油三酯测试。统计分析表明，男性上次就医和测量血压的时间间隔更长，而女性超重、腹型肥胖、高血压知晓率和使用降压药的频率更高（p<0.05）。因此，拾荒者的健康状况令人担忧，NCDs 的患病率较高，且对卫生服务的利用不足。建议采取措施改善监测和治疗。
