OBJECTIVES: to identify the number of electro-medical pieces of equipment in a coronary care unit, characterize their types, and analyze implications for the safety of patients from the perspective of alarm fatigue.METHOD: this quantitative, observational, descriptive, non-participatory study was conducted in a coronary care unit of a cardiology hospital with 170 beds.RESULTS: a total of 426 alarms were recorded in 40 hours of observation: 227 were triggered by multi-parametric monitors and 199 were triggered by other equipment (infusion pumps, dialysis pumps, mechanical ventilators, and intra-aortic balloons); that is an average of 10.6 alarms per hour.CONCLUSION: the results reinforce the importance of properly configuring physiological variables, the volume and parameters of alarms of multi-parametric monitors within the routine of intensive care units. The alarms of equipment intended to protect patients have increased noise within the unit, the level of distraction and interruptions in the workflow, leading to a false sense of security.

Background: Population aging all over the world invites older people to be active, considering physical activity (PA) as associated with reduced anxiety, depression and stress and a high quality of life (QOL) in older people. Objective: To analyze anxiety, depression, stress and QOL as a function of PA in older people. Methodology: Descriptive analytical research. Six hundred and ninety older people answered the instrument composed of sociodemographic questions, followed by questions from the WHOQOL-Old, Baecke-Old, WHOQOL-SRPB, Stress Perception Scale, Beck Anxiety Inventory and Beck Depression Inventory. Results: The beneficial effect of PA on the elderly is evident in this sample with such a high QoL (73%) and such a high level of physical activity (84%), and even with an advanced level of education (75%) and high spirituality (99.6%). The influence of PA on the anxiety and stress cluster showed Pearson’s chi-square = 9.9, DF = 4, p = 0.04239, critical value = 9.5. The influence of PA on the anxiety, depression and stress cluster showed Pearson’s chi-square = 6.8; DF = 5; p-value = 0.24; critical value = 11.1. Conclusion: In the elderly, PA has a significant relationship with anxiety, stress and QOL. In addition, the high level of QOL of the elderly in the sample demonstrates the capacity for PA, educational level and spirituality for personal satisfaction.

Physical activity (PA) improves the quality of life (QOL) of older people, increasing overall health and well-being and enabling them to take control over their own lives, and is highly correlated with sustainable aging. Objective: To relate the practice of PA with QOL for sustainable aging. Method: The sample of this cross-sectional inquiry analytical observational ex post facto research was composed of 690 community-dwelling older people of both genders, non-selected volunteers, living in Brazil, present at a road run in Rio de Janeiro, from 30 October 2019 to 12 March 2020, that answered an instrument starting with profile questions, followed by selected questions on QOL from world health organization quality of life for old age (WHOQOL-Old) and on PA from Baecke-Old. Results: The mean age bracket was 65–69 years, 73.6% female. This sample was characterized as active (84%), having university level education (75%), fitting the concept of a high level of QOL (73.35 ± 12.6). QOL was distributed as: 562 (81.2%) at 70–100%; 123 (17.9%) at 41–69%; 5 (0.7%) at 32–40%. Between active and sedentary lifestyle and QOL, the sedentary lifestyle presented a lower QOL score while the active QOL score was highest, with a correspondence with p < 0.001, DF = 2, with 99.9% certainty and Pearson’s chi-square test critical value = 19.2. Conclusion: The sample of older people characterized by high QOL and PA with a university level education suggests the triangulation between advanced education, PA and QOL. The QOL of the older people with high scores was associated with the practice of PA, and low scores were associated with a sedentary lifestyle; this conclusion can be applied to sustainable aging of general society.

To define the characteristics and measure the reaction time of a health care team monitoring alarms in the intensive care unit. A quantitative, observational, and descriptive study developed at the coronary care unit of a cardiology public hospital in Rio de Janeiro state (RJ). Data were obtained from the information collected on the patients, the monitoring used, and the measurement of the team's reaction time to the alarms of multi-parameter monitors during a non-participatory field observation. Eighty-eight patients were followed (49 during the day shift and 39 during the night shift). During the 40 hours of observation (20 hours during the day shift and 20 hours during the night shift), the total number of monitoring alarms was 227, with 106 alarms during the day shift and 121 during the night shift, an average of 5.7 alarms/hour. In total, 145 alarms unanswered by the team were observed, with 68 occurring during the day shift (64.15%) and 77 during the night shift (63.64%). This study demonstrated that the reaction time was longer than 10 minutes in more than 60% of the alarms, which were considered as unanswered alarms. The median reaction time of the answered alarms was 4 minutes and 54 seconds during the day shift and 4 minutes and 55 seconds during the night shift. The respiration monitoring was activated in only nine patients (23.07%) during the night shift. Regarding the alarm quality of these variables, the arrhythmia alarm was qualified in only 10 (20.40%) of the day-shift patients and the respiration alarm in four night-shift patients (44.44%). The programming and configuration of the physiological variables monitored and the parameters of alarms in the intensive care unit were inadequate; there was a delay and lack of response to the alarms, suggesting that relevant alarms may have been ignored by the health care team, thus compromising the patient safety.

RESUMO Objetivo compreender as representações sociais de adolescentes sobre vulnerabilidades e riscos para contrair o HIV/Aids nas relações sexuais. Método estudo de representações sociais, realizado a partir de entrevistas individuais com 15 adolescentes e grupo focal com oito adolescentes de uma escola pública do Recife, Pernambuco, Brasil. Os dados foram coletados no período de maio a outubro de 2016. Para tratamento dos dados, empregou-se a técnica de análise de conteúdo temática-categorial com o auxílio do Software QSR Nvivo11. Resultados as categorias: riscos de contrair HIV/Aids nas relações sexuais; e dos riscos de contrair HIV/Aids nas relações sexuais às vulnerabilidades abrigam os temas não usar preservativo, ter usado álcool e/ou drogas, ter vários parceiros, ter dificuldades de acesso aos serviços de saúde e de educação sexual nas escolas; e não ter conversas com os pais ou familiares. Conclusão e implicações para a prática compreendeu-se que as representações sociais circulam no imaginário e no ambiente escolar, interferindo na realidade dos adolescentes. Propõe-se priorizar políticas públicas focadas nas dimensões emocionais, afetivas e sociais.

O processo de envelhecimento é um dos fenômenos que mais se evidencia nas sociedades atuais, sendo esse fenômeno conhecido como transição demográfica. Associada a transição demográfica destaca-se a transição epidemiológica que geram mudanças nos padrões de morte, morbidade e invalidez de uma população especí­fica e que, em geral, ocorre em conjunto com outras transformações como as sociais, econômicas e de saúde. Sendo assim o estudo tem como objetivo analisar os aspectos gerais sobre a transição demográfica e epidemiológica da população brasileira. Para esta revisão foram utilizadas informações de agências especializadas em saúde, como a OMS, OPAS, Ministério da Saúde e IBGE, além de periódicos das bases de dados Pubmed, ScienceDirect, Scielo e Lilacs, utilizando os Descritores em Ciência da Saúde (DeCs) e Medical Subject Headings (MeSH). Visto o exposto, ressalta-se a importância sobre práticas integradas e preventivas das doenças crônicas não transmissí­veis na população idosa, além da identificação do seu perfil epidemiológico, facilitando assim a tomada de decisão sobre o planejamento estratégico de modelos de atenção í saúde adequada a essa população.Palavras-chave: idoso, transição epidemiológica, transição demográfica, doenças crônicas não transmissí­veis.