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BACKGROUND: Prior research has explored the association between women's employment status and breastfeeding at the individual level, however; a notable gap in scholarly inquiry exists regarding the relationship between labor market performance and breastfeeding at the population level. RESEARCH AIM: The aim of this paper is to investigate the association between labor market performance and breastfeeding prevalence in the United States. METHODS: This study is a cross-sectional analysis of the association between labor market performance and the prevalence of breastfeeding. Our analysis is conducted at the state level using data published up to late 2021 from the Current Population Survey and the National Immunization Survey. The first dataset was used to construct aggregate and sex-specific state level indicators of labor market performance for both males and females. The second dataset supplied the proportion of mothers breastfeeding for the corresponding birth cohort from each state. RESULTS: Higher average weekly hours worked by females in the year before giving birth was associated with a lower prevalence of breastfeeding, but employment rates among females did not significantly affect breastfeeding prevalence. Among males, current employment rates were positively associated with breastfeeding prevalence; however, no significant relationship was observed between breastfeeding prevalence and average weekly work hours worked. CONCLUSION: Sex-specific labor market performance may play a role in breastfeeding decisions and the timing of labor market performance relative to childbirth is important. Furthermore, these results highlight that employment rates and hours worked might be associated with child health through breastfeeding prevalence.

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People with health problems experience various labor market disadvantages, such as hiring discrimination and heightened risk of firing, but the impact of deteriorating economic conditions on health-related labor market mobility remains poorly understood. The strength of the downturn/crisis will most likely make a difference. During minor downturns, when few employees are made redundant, health-related exit may occur frequently since employers prefer to keep those with good health on the payroll. However, during major economic crises, when large-scale downsizing and firm closures abound, there will be less discretionary room for employers. Thus, some mechanisms that usually are damaging for people with health problems (e.g., seniority rules and negative connotations), can be neutralized, ultimately leading to smaller health differentials in labor market outcomes. The current study used population-wide administrative register data, covering the years 2013-2021, to examine health-related exit from employment (to unemployment/social assistance) before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Norway. The pandemic spurred a major crisis on the Norwegian labor market and led to a record-high unemployment rate of 10.6 percent in March 2020. Restricting the analytical samples to labor market insiders, linear probability models showed that previous recipients of health-related benefits had a higher unemployment likelihood in the pre-crisis year 2019. The relative importance of poor health changed non-negligibly, however, during the COVID-19 pandemic. When identical statistical analyses were run on the crisis year 2020, health-related exit from employment was dampened. Yet, this labor market equalization was not followed by smaller health differentials in work income in 2021, mainly because people with good health retained or regained decent-paying jobs when the economic conditions improved again. In conclusion, major economic crises can lead to an equalization of labor market disadvantages for people with health problems, but health-related inequalities may reemerge when the economy recovers.

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Rising temperatures have profound impacts on the well-being of urban residents. However, factors explaining the temporal variability of urban thermal environment, or urban warming, remain insufficiently understood, especially in the Global South. Addressing this gap, we studied the relationship between city-level economic conditions and urban warming, and how urban green space mediated this relationship, focusing on 359 major Latin American cities between 2001 and 2022. While effect sizes varied by economic and temperature measures used, we found that better economic conditions were associated with lower baseline greenness in 2011, which contributed to faster warming. There was modest evidence that this faster warming associated with lower baseline greenness and improved economic conditions was partially offset by cooling from recent greening (2001-2022) in cities of better economic conditions. This offset was more evident in arid cities. Together, these findings provide insights into the urban warming mechanism manifested through the effect of economic conditions on urban green space, for Latin American cities and other high-density cities transforming in a similar context.

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Myopia involves giving disproportionate weight to outcomes that occur close to the present. Myopia in people's evaluations of political outcomes and proposals threatens effective policymaking. It can lead to inefficient spending just before elections, cause inaction on important future policy challenges, and create incentives for government interventions aimed at boosting short-term performance at the expense of long-term welfare. But, are people generally myopic? Existing evidence comes mostly from studies that disregard either the future or collective outcomes. Political science characterizes people as myopic based on how they retrospectively evaluate collective outcomes, such as the state of the economy. Behavioral economics and psychology find that people make myopic choices involving future individual outcomes, such as money or personal health. To characterize myopia more generally, we offer two innovations: First, we adapt measurement approaches from behavioral economics and psychology to precisely gauge myopia over politically relevant collective outcomes. Second, we estimate myopia using the same approach for collective political outcomes in both past and future. We conduct two surveys on three different samples (including a large probability-based sample) asking respondents to evaluate national conditions randomly described as past or future while holding constant the domain, information about conditions, and the elicitation method. Results show that prospective evaluations are significantly less myopic than retrospective evaluations. People are often not myopic at all when looking to the future. This surprising pattern calls for more research to probe its robustness and spell out how low prospective myopia might lead to forward-looking policy.

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The relationship between economic recessions and cardiovascular mortality has been widely explored. However, there is limited evidence on whether economic uncertainty alone is linked to cardiovascular disease deaths. This study examines the association between economic uncertainty and mortality from diseases of the circulatory system in the United States. We obtained monthly state-level mortality data from 2008 to 2017 and used indices capturing economic uncertainty from national/international sources and local sources. Panel data modelling was used to account for unobserved time-invariant differences between the states. Our findings suggest that economic uncertainty is independently linked to cardiovascular mortality. Uncertainty arising from national/international sources is associated with cardiovascular deaths, whereas the respective index capturing uncertainty from state/local sources is not. Deaths respond asymmetrically with respect to uncertainty fluctuations - with high levels of uncertainty driving the association. One- and two-month lagged uncertainty levels are also associated with mortality. Several robustness checks further validate the baseline findings. Overall, economic uncertainty is an independent predictor of cardiovascular mortality which appears to act as a psychosocial stressor and a short-term trigger. Public health strategies for cardiovascular disease need to consider factors driving economic uncertainty. Preventive measures and raising awareness can intensify in periods of economic uncertainty.

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Similar to her neighboring country, Japan, China faces significant difficulties in providing long-term care to the elderly. Female household members who traditionally provided necessary caregiving are no longer available as much as in the past due to the demographic and socioeconomic changes over the past few decades. Against this backdrop, we investigated how socioeconomic factors affect the perception of family caregiving norms in China, using an international comparative household dataset that allowed us to compare China with Japan, the latter being extensively investigated. We used ordered probit regression to estimate the model equation. Our results show that rural residency, household assets, and government dependency are positively associated with the perception of care. A notable difference from the Japanese results is that rural residents have a rather positive perception of family caregiving norms. Furthermore, urban-rural subsample analyses revealed that women in rural areas perceive caregiving negatively.

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We analyse the effects of the first wave of the COVID-19 crisis on the economic situation of 50+ Europeans. We construct a financial distress indicator that captures experiencing an income loss, difficulties to make ends meet and the need to postpone payments. We find that education and income before the pandemic has a protective role, and so does being past retirement age. For households under retirement age, instead, the pandemic has exacerbated inequalities. We also investigate whether households report worse difficulties in making ends meet compared to the pre-COVID-19 period. We show that their ability to make ends meet worsens more with income losses during the pandemic compared to losses experienced in the two-year period before the pandemic.

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Because the U.S. is a major player in the international oil market, it is interesting to study whether aggregate and state-level economic conditions can predict the subsequent realized volatility of oil price returns. To address this research question, we frame our analysis in terms of variants of the popular heterogeneous autoregressive realized volatility (HAR-RV) model. To estimate the models, we use quantile-regression and quantile machine learning (Lasso) estimators. Our estimation results highlights the differential effects of economic conditions on the quantiles of the conditional distribution of realized volatility. Using weekly data for the period April 1987 to December 2021, we document evidence of predictability at a biweekly and monthly horizon.

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BACKGROUND: Anglers are a large social group with access to a "relatively safe" form of recreation, that allows the opportunity to relieve stress. An important question, however, is how they did so, and to what extent their perceived COVID-19 transition status influenced decisions both in life and at the fishing site. AIM: Our study aimed to determine the dynamics of anglers' attitudes and behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic as a result of the different statuses of their exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. We assumed that the behavior of anglers who have not experienced the disease (were not ill and not sure if ill) will be similar and, on the other hand, different from the behavior of those who have experienced COVID-19. METHODS: The web-assisted interviews survey was used among 586 anglers with different COVID-19 disease experience statuses. Their pandemic behavior and activities by four age groups were studied using non-metric multidimensional scaling. Redundancy analysis has been used to identify the relationship between anglers' life attitudes and socioeconomic and demographic factors, taking into account their preferences and involvement in fishing. RESULTS: We have demonstrated that the behavior of anglers who have not experienced COVID-19 disease and do not present a reckless attitude toward pandemic threats, do not show significant differences from the life attitudes of the group experienced by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. These two groups comprise more than 70% of anglers. However, the rest show a lack of interest in an aware diagnosis of their health and a low level of acceptance of self-restraint in the area of direct social contact. CONCLUSIONS: Unawareness, combined with ignorance, could be a potential factor in the transmission of the virus while fishing. The behaviors of almost 30% of anglers are particularly risky when combined with a strong need to fish in the company of friends and familiar people. Anglers' social identity should be tapped by fishery managers. Targeted educational campaigns should be aimed at groups around specific fishing spots. The need for self-limitation under the pandemic should be promoted for the benefit of the general public and to maintain the reputation of angling as a safe recreational activity.

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BACKGROUND: Non-clinical hospital staff were rarely studied despite their potential exposure to workplace stressors. We aimed to measure the prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress (emotional distress symptoms) and determine their association with perceived job stress level and socioeconomic factors among non-clinical hospital staff. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Ain-Shams University Hospitals from March to May 2019. Tools were the Arabic Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21, Workplace Stress Scale, and Socioeconomic status scale. Independent correlates were determined using multivariable ordinal regression. RESULTS: Out of 462 participants, 72.5% reported receiving insufficient income and 54.8% showed Effort-reward imbalance. Job stress was scored as severe/potentially dangerous by 30.1%. The prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress were 67.5, 69.0, and 51.7%; and the severe/extremely severe levels were 20.8, 34.6, and 17.6% respectively. Across all the severity levels, the likelihood of depression, anxiety, and stress were progressively higher with more serious levels of income insufficiency [in debt versus able to save, OR:5.82 (95%CI:2.35-14.43), OR:3.84 (95%CI:1.66-8.91), and OR:3.01 (95%CI:1.20-7.55) respectively] and with higher job stress levels. Specifically, the likelihood of depression, anxiety, and stress increased by 74, 56, and 53% respectively with feelings of unpleasant/unsafe work conditions and by 64, 38, and 62% respectively with the presence of work-life conflict; while the likelihood of depression and stress increased by 32 and 33% respectively when there was difficult communication with superiors; and only the likelihood of depression increased by 23% with underutilization of skills. CONCLUSION: Non-clinical hospital staff were commonly affected by emotional distress symptoms with high rates of severe/very severe levels, and they often considered their workplace stress as severe/potentially dangerous. Workplace stress and income insufficiency were strong correlates with emotional distress symptoms. Decreasing work-life conflict, enhancing leadership skills, and mitigation of the economic hardship are needed.

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Resumen Objetivo: identificar cuáles fueron, desde el punto de vista de las madres y padres, las condiciones de estudio, los aprendizajes y las reacciones emocionales antes y durante la pandemia de sus hijas/os con necesidades educativas especiales, además de conocer algunas condiciones emocionales de ellas/os mismas/os. Método: Se realizó un estudio exploratorio, en el cual se aplicaron cuestionarios digitales a madres y padres de alumnas/os con y sin necesidades educativas especiales, seleccionados mediante un muestreo no probabilístico, intencional. Participaron 2.634 madres y padres (entre 35 y 38 años de edad en promedio, 90 % mujeres). Resultados: Se encontró que los alumnos estudiaron en condiciones precarias, y se vieron afectados seriamente en sus aprendizajes y mostraron reacciones emocionales negativas durante la pandemia. Los alumnos con necesidades educativas especiales resultaron muy afectados, pero no mucho más que los alumnos sin estas necesidades, lo cual probablemente se debió al trabajo de las USAER. Las madres y padres, particularmente de los alumnos con NEE, presentaron cansancio y frustración. Conclusiones: Se concluye que el confinamiento produjo serias afectaciones en todos los estudiantes, incluyendo a quienes presentan necesidades educativas especiales, pero estos no resultaron mucho más afectados gracias al apoyo brindado por las USAER. Discusión: Estos resultados obligan a tomar medidas emergentes durante el regreso a clases presenciales para compensar las pérdidas de aprendizaje.

Abstract Objective: To identify what were, from the point of view of mothers and fathers, the study conditions, learning and emotional reactions before and during the pandemic of their children with special educational needs, in addition to knowing the emotional conditions of themselves. Method: An exploratory study was carried out, in which digital questionnaires were administered to mothers and fathers of students with and without special educational needs (SEN), selected through a non-probabilistic, intentional sample. Participants included 2,634 mothers and fathers (between 35 and 38 years old on average, 90 % women). Results: The learners studied in precarious conditions, were seriously affected in their academic learning and showed negative emotional reactions during the pandemic. Students with special educational needs were also greatly affected, but not much more so than students without these needs, which was probably due to the work of the USAER. The mothers and fathers, particularly of the students with SEN, presented fatigue and frustration. Conclusions: The lockdown produced serious effects on the learning of all students, including those with special educational needs, who, nevertheless, were not as affected due to the support provided by USAER. Discussion: These results point out to the need to adopt emerging measures during the return to face-to-face classes to compensate for the loss of learning.

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Background and objectives: Exploring the disease profile in a defined area helps policymakers to understand local health issues. It is essential to collect such information in countries, like India, which have a wide range of socioeconomic, geographic, and cultural diversity. Madhya Pradesh is the second largest state of India and has diversified populations living in urban, rural, and tribal areas. In this study, we performed a hospital record-based analysis to find out the status of different diseases in various outpatient departments (OPDs) of the District Hospital where patients from both rural and urban areas are treated. Materials and methods: The retrospective data was collected from medical records available for the period September 2018 to September 2020. These datasets were analyzed to determine the most common presentations among patients. Results and conclusions: A total of 138,756 records of patients were available for this study, whose department-wise analysis revealed that most records were related to respiratory tract infection, superficial dermatophytosis, anemia among women, suppurative otitis media, and pneumonia. This study provides a broad overview of the overall health issues of people living in rural and urban areas of Datia. However, a major limitation of the study was that other correlations with age and gender were not established due to the absence of such information. Nonetheless, these findings will help policymakers and researchers to set the agenda for interventions and set goals for achieving better health for all people including those living in rural and tribal regions.

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The Robben Island diversity experience (RIDE), a conference using a group relations training model, was held annually from 2000 to 2013, (with RIDE not taking place in 2004). During RIDE, underlying, unconscious, and covert South African diversity dynamics are studied as they manifest among managers and officials in the fields of change, diversity management, transformation, and human resources management. The participants (staff and membership) of the conference collectively form a temporary organisation in which they explore unconscious dynamics and processes as they relate to dealing with diversity challenges. A qualitative, analytic auto-ethnographic research approach was used to elicit data. The data consisted of different sets of process notes compiled during my involvement in RIDE (2000 to 2014). Thematic analysis was used to analyse and interpret the data to allow insights into diversity dynamics. The findings suggest that in the early events RIDE citizens displayed a preoccupation with race which was expressed through attempts to re-organise the race hierarchy in the unconscious, and the need to form good-enough relationships with old enemies through searching for the absent white-man. In more recent years it became evident that groups are reluctant to explore differences of organisational position and socio-economic status in racial sameness. The experimentation with leadership within and across race groups and gender was a preoccupation of members in a more recent RIDE. Further, the marginalisation of women, through the intersection between diversity characteristics, also became apparent. It seems that through RIDE as a container, the consultants as containers, and the willingness of the participants to engage with their diversity challenges, more diversity dynamics have become accessible to the RIDE citizens. This understanding of diversity dynamics can be used in South African and international organisations by researchers, consultants, and managers to enhance their understanding of diversity dynamics in organisations and inform the nature of the different diversity management initiatives implemented in these organisations.

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What is the relationship between work-to-family conflict (WFC) and children's problems with school, friends, and health? And does that association depend on household economic conditions and couple relationship quality? Using four waves of longitudinal data from the Canadian Work, Stress, and Heath Study (2011-2017), the present study finds that-overall-both fathers' and mothers' levels of WFC are associated with elevated levels of children's problems over time. However, we also discover that household income and spousal disputes moderate this focal relationship-and they do so differently for mothers and fathers. First, the positive association between WFC and children's problems is stronger for mothers (but not fathers) in households with lower income. Second, the positive association between WFC and children's problems is stronger for fathers (but not mothers) who report more frequent disputes with their spouse. We discuss the implications of these patterns for current theorizing about stress amplification dynamics and situate that discussion within broader ideas in the ecological model of human development.

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Recreational fishing and other outdoor recreational activities have been proven to have positive effects on mental health, including neutralizing pandemic stress. This study aims to identify the perceptions and behavior of recreational anglers during the COVID-19 pandemic along with identifying the factors that determine attitudes. This study is essential for understanding the complex economic, social, and environmental implications associated with a pandemic. Perceptions of pandemic stress reduction were confirmed by 63.8% of anglers, and nearly 98% felt there was no risk of infection from fishing. These feelings were most strongly positively associated and explained by a preference for fishing with friends and family and the frequency of fishing. Over 26% of respondents fished more frequently during the pandemic. Additional free time and the need to escape the pandemic media hype were the main factors for the increase in angler activity. The balance of benefits from changes in angler pandemic behavior was ambiguous. This was determined by considering the potential increase in pressure on the environmental resources that anglers use. Given the positive effects of angling on stress reduction, it is not advisable for policymakers to restrict recreational fishing access. Instead, best management practices should reduce sanitary bottlenecks to increase safety on fishing grounds.

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OBJECTIVES: Medical laboratories may, at their own discretion, exceed but not undercut regulatory quality requirements. Available economic resources, however, may drive or hinder eagerness to exceed minimum requirements. Depending on the respective scopes of regulatory and economic framework conditions, differing levels of quality efforts to safeguard laboratory performance can be anticipated. However, this has not yet been investigated. METHODS: Immunohaematology external quality assessment (EQA) results collected by 26 EQA providers from their participant laboratories in 73 countries from 2004 to 2019 were evaluated. Error rates were aggregated in groups according to the respective national regulatory and economic framework conditions, to whether or not expert advice was provided in case of incorrect results, and the frequency of EQA samples. RESULTS: These representative data indicate no association between national regulatory (mandatory participation in EQA, monitoring of performance of individual laboratories by authorities, financial consequences of incorrect results) and economic (level of national income, share of national health expenditure) conditions to the quality performance of medical laboratories in immunohaematology. However, EQA providers' support for laboratories in the event of incorrect results appear to be associated with lower error rates, but a high EQA sample frequency with higher error rates. CONCLUSIONS: Further research into the impact of introducing or changing services of EQA providers is needed to confirm the results found in this first of its kind study.

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Prior research shows that economic downturns are associated with increases in mental illness. However, we know little about whose mental health is most negatively affected. Is it the young or old, men or women, employed or non-employed, rich or poor? Using an 18-year panel dataset of Australians, we contribute to this understanding by estimating the impact of changes in unemployment on mental health, separately by population subgroups. Our mental health measure captures psychological distress and emotional difficulties, which are often missed by infrequent event indicators such as suicides. We find that young women suffer most during economic downturns. Men and women of older ages are not significantly affected. The effects for young women are driven by those in insecure employment, and those from low socioeconomic backgrounds. Our results suggest that public health programs should emphasize the mental health of young women during economic downturns.

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BACKGROUND: Macroeconomic changes are associated with population health outcomes, such as mortality, accidents, and alcohol use. Diet quality is a risk or protective factor that could be influenced by economic conditions. OBJECTIVE: This study examined the trajectory of diet quality measured by the Healthy Eating Index 2015 before, during, and after the 2008-2009 Great Recession. DESIGN: Repeated cross-sectional survey data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey were analyzed. PARTICIPANTS/SETTING: The analytic sample included 48,679 adults who completed at least one dietary recall from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999-2018. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Diet quality was assessed with a 24-hour dietary recall to calculate the Healthy Eating Index 2015 total scores, a measure of the conformance with the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. STATISTICAL ANALYSES PERFORMED: Least squares regression was used to adjust for demographic changes across waves. RESULTS: Diet quality improved noticeably during the Great Recession and deteriorated as economic conditions improved. CONCLUSIONS: Deteriorating economic circumstances may constrain choices, but that does not necessarily imply a worsening of dietary quality. During the Great Recession, American diets became more consistent with Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommendations, possibly because of a shift toward food prepared at home instead of prepared food bought away from home.

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BACKGROUND: Serological evaluation of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is an alternative that allows us to determine the prevalence and dynamics of this infection in populations. The goal of this study was to determine the clinical and sociodemographic dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 infection in a region of the Colombian Caribbean. METHODS: Between July and November 2020, a cross-sectional observational study was carried out in Córdoba, located in northeast Colombia in the Caribbean area. Eight municipalities with the largest populations were chosen and 2564 blood samples were taken. A commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used with the recombinant protein antigen N of SARS-CoV-2. The people included in the study were asked for sociodemographic and clinical data, which were analysed by statistical methods. RESULTS: A seroprevalence of 40.8% was obtained for SARS-CoV-2 in the Córdoba region. In the bivariate analysis, no differences were observed in seropositivity against SARS-CoV-2 for gender or age range (p>0.05). Higher seropositivity was found in low socio-economic status and symptomatic patients (p<0.0001). A total of 30.7% of the asymptomatic patients were seropositive for SARS-CoV-2, which could be linked to the spread of this infection. In the multivariate analysis, seroconversion was related to poverty and clinical manifestations such as anosmia and ageusia (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The high seropositivity in Córdoba is due to widespread SARS-CoV-2 in this population. The relationship between seropositivity and socio-economic status suggests a higher exposure risk to the virus caused by informal economic activities in low-income groups. Clinical manifestations such as anosmia and ageusia could be clinical predictors of infection by the new emergent coronavirus.

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Introducción: se buscó analizar la prevalencia de enfermedades dermatológicas de la población de un asentamiento urbano precario próximo al vertedero municipal de Asunción (Paraguay), atendiendo a la exposición de las condiciones socioambientales. Materiales y métodos: estudio descriptivo y transversal con una muestra no probabilística intencional que incluyó a 77 personas de entre 5 meses y 76 años. Resultados: en el momento del examen físico, el 96.2 % de las personas presentó, al menos, una lesión cutánea, y el 79.2 %, una o más enfermedades infecciosas de piel; sin embargo, el 77.9 % no había recu-rrido a consulta médica. Las más sobresalientes fueron las micosis (35.1 %), las bacterianas (35.1 %) y las ectoparasitosis (27.3 %). Se identificó que la prevalencia de enfermedades bacterianas de piel apunta a una posible mayor exposición a condiciones adversas como: un clima subtropical de altas temperaturas y húmedo, una alta relación de convivientes en el hogar por dormitorio, problemas de provisión de agua y suelos de arena en los hogares, así como un sistema de evacuación de excretas deficiente, la presencia de animales con escasa vigilancia sanitaria, la proximidad a arroyos y cauces al aire libre depositarios de materia cloacal y el impacto recurrente de raudales los días de intensa lluvia. Conclusión: los resul-tados sugieren que la alta prevalencia de enfermedades cutáneas infecciosas podría relacionarse con una mayor exposición a condiciones socioambientales locales adversas, que son factores relevantes por tener en cuenta para mejorar la atención a la salud de las enfermedades dermatológicas de la población urbana que habita en un asentamiento urbano precario

Introduction: This study analyzes the prevalence of dermatological diseases in the population of a precarious urban settlement near the municipal landfill of Asunción (Paraguay), in relation to expo-sure to socio-environmental conditions. Materials and methods: descriptive, cross-sectional study with a non-probabilistic purposive sample that included 77 people aged between 5 months and 76 years. Results: at the time of physical examination, 96.2% of the people presented at least one skin lesion and 79.2% one or more infectious skin diseases, but 77.9% had not consulted a doctor. The most prominent were mycoses (35.1%), bacterial (35.1%) and ectoparasitoses (27.3%). It was identified that the preva-lence of bacterial skin diseases points to possible increased exposure to adverse conditions such as: a subtropical climate with high temperatures and humidity, a high ratio of people living in the household per bedroom, water supply problems and sandy soils in homes, as well as a deficient excreta disposal system, the presence of animals with poor sanitary surveillance, proximity to streams and open-air waterways that deposit sewage and the recurrent impact of floods on days of heavy rainfall. Conclusion:the results suggest that the high prevalence of infectious skin diseases could be related to increased exposure to adverse local socio-environmental conditions, which are relevant factors to be taken into to improve the health care of skin diseases in the urban population living in a slum settlement

Introdução: este estudo analisa a prevalência de doenças dermatológicas na população de um assen-tamento urbano precário próximo ao aterro sanitário municipal de Asunción (Paraguai) em relação à exposição às condições socioambientais. Materiais e métodos: estudo descritivo, transversal, com uma amostra não-probabilística de propósito que incluiu 77 pessoas com idade entre 5 meses e 76 anos. Resultados: no momento do exame físico, 96,2% das pessoas tinham pelo menos uma lesão de pele e 79,2% tinham uma ou mais doenças infecciosas de pele, mas 77,9% não tinham consultado um médico. As mais importantes foram micoses (35,1%), bacterianas (35,1%) e ectoparasitoses (27,3%). A preva-lência de doenças bacterianas da pele foi identificada como apontando para um possível aumento da exposição a condições adversas tais como: um clima subtropical com altas temperaturas e umidade, uma alta proporção de pessoas vivendo na casa por quarto, problemas de abastecimento de água e solos arenosos nas habitações, bem como um sistema de eliminação de excrementos deficiente, a presença de animais com vigilância sanitária deficiente, proximidade a riachos e cursos de água abertos que depositam águas residuais, e o impacto recorrente de enchentes em dias de chuvas fortes. Conclusão:Os resultados sugerem que a alta prevalência de doenças infecciosas de pele pode estar relacionada ao aumento da exposição a condições sócio-ambientais locais adversas, que são fatores relevantes a serem considerados para melhorar os cuidados com doenças de pele na população urbana que vive em uma favela

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