Among women whose last delivery occurred between 01/01/2012 and 27/07/2013, 45.3% had a normal delivery and 54.7% had a Caesarean section. More than half of the surgeries (53.5%) had been scheduled in advance, as revealed in the third volume of the 2013 National Survey of Health (PNS).

The survey also informs that, from age 50 to 69, 60% of the of the women had had a mammogram in the two years preceding the interview, whereas, from age 25 to 64, 79.4% had undergone a test to prevent cervix cancer, known as Pap smear, in the last three years. Among women aged 18 and over, 7.7% had undergone surgery for uterus removal, mainly due to uterine myoma. Almost 70% of the women aged 18 to 49 had been pregnant once in life. From the total number of women in the same age bracket who had had sexual relationships in the 12 months preceding the interview and who still had menstrual periods, 38.9% did not use any kind of contraceptive method.

The third volume of PNS 2013 analyzes the population’s life cycles and presents information on physical disability and on the health of the elderly, women and children up to 2 years of age. The analysis also covers anthropometric data related to weight and abdominal fat, besides information on blood pressure.

According to the survey, obesity affected one out of five Brazilians aged 18 and over in 2013 (20.8%). The percentage was higher among women (24.4% versus 16.8% for men). Overweight affected more than half of the population (56.9%), about 82 million persons, obese ones included. In ten years, obesity among women aged 20 and over changed from 14.0% in 2003, according to the Consumer Expenditure Survey (POF), to 25.2% in 2013, according to the PNS. Among men, increase was smaller, from 9.3% to 17.5%. The accumulation of abdominal fat was also more frequent among women, reaching 52.1% of them versus and 21.8% of men. The opposite took place in relation to blood pressure, with biggest occurrence of rise among men (25.3%) than women (19.5%), reaching, at the moment of the interview, 22.3% of the population.

The PNS also reveals that 6.2% of the population had at least one of the four types of disability investigated, and that 0.8% had intellectual disability; 1.3%, physical disability; 1.1%, hearing disability and 3.6%, visual disability. Physical disability resulting from disease or accident affected one out of every one hundred Brazilians. Intellectual disability was the only type whose percentage of persons born with the problem (0.5%) surpassed that of persons who acquired it afterwards (0.3%).

The survey shows that 6.8% of the elderly were limited to perform daily activities in their own home, such as eating and putting on clothes, whereas 17.3% had difficulty in performing instrumental activities, such as shopping and taking medicines. In 2013, one out of every four children up to one year of age had not taken the three doses of the tetravalent vaccine, against tetanus, diphtheria, whooping cough and meningitis. Among children aged 9 and 12 months, 50.6% had been breastfed as a complementary source of feeding. Up to 2 years of age, 60.8% of the children used to eat cookies, crackers or cake, and 32.3%, to drink soft drinks or artificial juice.

The third volume of PNS 2013 brings data on Brazil, its Major Regions and Federation Units. Click here to see the complete publication.

Disability: one out of every hundred persons has some physical disability caused by disease or accident

Approximately 2.6 million persons (1.3% of the population) had some physical disability, such as paralysis, amputations, deformities, and dwarfism, among others. The percentage was highest among men (1.6%) than women (1.0%), increasing from age 30 on: 1.0% for the group aged 30 to 39, 1.9% for persons aged 40 to 59 and 3.3% for those aged 60 and over. Persons with no schooling of with unfinished primary education (1.9%) recorded percentages above the other levels of schooling.

In the country, about 600 thousand persons (0.3%) were born with this kind of disability, whereas 2.0 million (1.0%) had acquired it by disease or accident. The North Region had the lowest proportion of physical disability acquired by disease or accident (0.8%). Among persons with physical disability, 46.8% had a high or very high level of limitation, or could not even perform their usual activities. It was estimated that 18.4% of the population were attending some type of rehabilitation service.

Most of the persons with intellectual disability had been born with it

Intellectual disability affected about 1.6 million Brazilians (0.8%) in 2013. It is the least frequent type of disability among the four ones surveyed. Approximately 1.0 million persons (0.5% of the population) had had intellectual disabilities since birth, whereas 600 thousand (0.3%) had acquired it by disease or accident. It is the only type in which the percentage of people born with the disability was superior to those who had acquired by means of a disease or accident. The highest percentages were estimated among people with no schooling and with unfinished primary education, considering those who had been born with a disability (0.9 %), as well as those who had gotten it due to illness or accident (0.5 %).

In 2013, 54.8% of the population with intellectual disabilities had a high or very high level of limitation, or were unable to perform their usual activities, such as going to school, playing and working. This was the highest proportion of limitation between the disabilities investigated. Among persons with intellectual disability, the proportion of people who attended health rehabilitation services, composed of multiprofessional teams and interdisciplinary assistance, was 30.4 %, the highest among the four disabilities surveyed.

2,2 million persons had hearing impairment in 2013

In Brazil, about 2.2 million persons (1.1% of the population) had hearing impairment, with the smallest ratio observed in the Northern Region (0.8%). The survey considered persons with hearing impairment those with deafness in both ears, or deafness in one ear and reduced hearing in another, or reduced hearing in both ears.

This type of disability was more frequent among persons with no schooling with unfinished primary education (1.8%) and in the group aged 60 and over (5.2%). It was the only one with statistically different results by color or race, in which white persons made up a bigger proportion (1.4%) than black and brown ones (both with 0.9%).

In the population, 09% had hearing impairment caused by disease or accident, whereas 0.2% had had it since birth. The proportion of persons who acquired hearing disability was lowest in the North Region (0.6%) and biggest in the South (1.3%), being biggest in the group aged 60 and over (5.0%), the white population (1.2%) persons with no schooling or with incomplete primary education (1.6%). In 2013, 20.6% of the population with this disability had a high or very high level of limitation or were unable to perform usual activities. In Brazil, 8.4% of them attended rehabilitation services. In Brazil, 8.4% of them attended rehabilitation services.

Visual impairment is the most common type affecting the population

Visual impairment is the most frequent type among the population (3.6%), reaching approximately 7.2 million persons. It was highest in the South Region (5.9%) and among persons aged 60 and over (11.5%). Visual impairment encompassed cases of blindness in both eyes, blindness in one eye and reduced sight in the other, blindness in one eye and normal sight in the other and low sight in both eyes. This disability included the biggest proportion of persons who had gotten it due to a disease or accident (3.3%), while 0.4% had had it since birth. In the country, 6.6% of people with visual impairment made use of some resource to assist locomotion, such as a folding cane guide dog.

Regarding the high or very high level of limitation or failure to perform activities of daily living, visual impairment had the lowest proportion (16.0%). The Northeast region was the only one with a proportion above the national level (20.8%). Rehabilitation services were attended by 4.8% of the persons with this type of disability, the lowest percentage among the four types surveyed.

Health of the elderly: 17.3% of the elderly have difficulty to perform daily instrumental activities

In 2013, about 26.5 million persons were 60 and over, representing 13.2% of the population and 17.3% of them (4.6 million) had functional limitation to perform, alone, their instrumental activities of daily living (IADL). That represents limitations to go shopping, take care of their own money, take medicines and use public transportation such as buses, taxi or cars. The Northeast Region presented the biggest proportion of this indicator (22.0%).

The functional limitation for IADL was biggest among women (20.4%) than men (13.4%). The older the age group, the biggest the proportion estimated, ranging from 6.4% to persons aged 60 to 64 and 39.2% among persons aged 75 and over. The higher the level of schooling, the smaller the estimated proportion: 27.6% for those with no schooling and 7.9% for those with at least complete primary education.

Functional limitation to perform activities of daily living (ADL) reached 6.8% of the elderly in 2013 (1.8 million persons). These activities include eating, taking a shower, getting dressed and lying down. The older the age group, the biggest the proportion of elderly persons facing these difficulties, ranging from 2.8% among persons aged 60 to 64 to 15.6% among persons aged 75 and over. On the other hand, the highest the level of schooling, the smaller the indicator, with 10.2% for persons with no schooling and 3.7% for those with complete primary school or more.

The survey also showed that 84.0% of the elderly with these difficulties (1.5 million) needed help to perform these activities, but 10.9% did not receive any help, 17.8% had care provided by a paid professional (either a family member or not, living in the same housing unit or not) and 78.8% had care provided by a family members (living in the same housing unit or not).

7.6 million elderly persons have been diagnosed with cataract

The proportion of elderly persons diagnosed with cataract in one or both eyes was 28.7% (7.6 million). The highest rates were those of the Northeast (31.9%) and Central West (33.7%) and the lowest, in the South Region (21.8%). The rate was less frequent among men (24.6%) than among women (31.9%) and rose with the age, reaching 47.5% in the group aged 75 and over. With reference to color or race, white persons made up the biggest proportion (30.5%).

Among persons diagnosed with cataract, 72.2% had indication of surgery and had it done. The Northeast Region (66.5%) recorded a result below the national average. Among persons who did not undergo surgery, the most often mentioned reasons were: they found it unnecessary (18.4%); the surgery was already scheduled (17.8%); there were no vacancies; they had financial difficulties (9.1%).

Women's health: 60% of the women aged 50 to 69 had had a mammogram in the two years preceding the date of the survey

Three out of every five Brazilian women aged 50 to 69 (60.0%) had taken a mammogram in the two years preceding the survey. This concern for health was more common among white women (66.2%) with complete higher education (80.9%). Considering black (54.2%), brown (52.9%) and less schooled women (50.9% among women with no schooling and those with incomplete primary education), frequencies were smaller. The smallest proportion of women who had taken this test was found in the North Region (38.7%), followed by the Northeast (47.9%), Central West (55.6%), South (64.5%) and Southeast (67.9%).

In Brazil, 79.4% of the women aged 25 to 64 underwent the test to prevent cervix cancer (Pap test) in the three years preceding the survey. The Southeast (81.1%), South (83.0%) and Central West (80.9%) accounted for the biggest proportions, and the North (75.5%) and Northeast (75.1%) were lower in 2013. Among women aged 25 to 64 who had never taken the test, 45.6% reported not finding it necessary; 20.7% had never been advised to take it and 9.7% reported being embarrassed to do it.

In Brazil, 7.7% of the women aged 18 and over underwent surgery for uterus removal. The main reason was the removal of a uterine myoma (65.7%). In 2013, 69.8% of the women aged 45 and over who had not had their uterus removed had already started menopause.