In 2019, according to the National Survey of Health (PNS), 17.3 million persons aged two and over (8.4% of this population) had one of the disabilities investigated, and about 8.5 million (24.8%) elderly persons were in this group.

In the population aged 2 and over, 3.4% (or 6,978 million) had visual impairment; hearing impairment affected 1.1% (or 2.3 million), of whom 22.4% were acquainted with the Brazilian Sign Language (Libras); 1.2% (or 2.5 million) had mental deficiency. There were about 7.8 million persons aged 2 (3.8% with lower limb disability and 5.5 million) (2.7%) with upper limb disability.

Only 28.3% of the persons with disabilities at working age (14 and over) were actually in the workforce, against 66.3% of persons without disabilities. Approximately 67.6% of the population with disabilities did not have schooling or had incomplete primary education, in comparison with 30.9% for persons without any of the disabilities surveyed.

About 72.3% of the (elderly) persons aged 60 and over had been vaccinated against the flu in the period analyzed by PNS. Approximately 15.5% of them had fallen in the 12 months preceding the survey and 34.6% were diagnosed with cataract.

In 2019, 64.6% of the men aged 15 and over had become fathers and their average age when their first child was born was 25.8. As for family planning PNS shows that, among men whose partner was pregnat or whose last child was below 6 years of age, 27.3% of them were between 15 and 34 would rather have delayed fatherhood and 10.4% of those aged 35 and ove did not want to have any child or more children.

In 2019, 81.3% of the women between 25 and 64 years of age had gotten a Pap smear to test for cervical cancer less than 3 years ago and 6.1% had never taken such a test. Among women aged 50 to 69, 58.3% had gotten a mammogram less than 2 years before, a percentage above that of 2013 (54.3%). Considering women aged 15 to 49 who were sexually active in the last 12 months, 80.5% used some kind of contraceptive method, the most common of which, considering their effectiveness, the Pill (40.6%) and male condoms (20.4%). About 17.3% of the women in this group had had tubal ligation. .

In Brazil, 4.7 million women aged 15 and over had given birth between July 29 2017 and July 27 2019. During delivery, 87.2% of them were assisteb by a doctor, 10.4%, by a nurse, and 1.0% by a midwife.

In 2019, 76.6% of the children aged 6 months up to 2 years of age had been vaccinated with the three doses of the polio vaccine. The National Survey of Health (PNS) 2019 also showed that 11.5% of the children in this age group used to drink soft drinks.

One out of every four elderly persons had some type of disability

PNS 2019 estimated at 17.3 million the number of persons aged 2 and over (8.4% in this population) with at least one of the disabilities surveyed. From that total, 14.4 million lived in urban housing units and 2.9 million, in rural ones.

The biggest percentage of persons with disabilites was in the Northeast (9.9%), a Major region where all the states recorded percentages above the national average. Percentages in the other Major regions were: Southeast (8.1%), South (8,0%), North (7.7%) and Central West (7.1%).

Among children aged 2 to 9 years of age, 1.5% (332 thousand) were persons with disabilities, whereas among the elderly (those aged 60 and over), that percentage reached 24.8% (8.5 million). Men made up 6.9% (6.7 million) and women, 9.9% (10.5 million).

In the population aged 18 and over with disability, 67.6% were persons without schooling or with incomplete primary education, whereas among persons in this age group without any of the disabilities investigated, only 30.9% had this level of schooling.

In the population with disabilities aged 18 and over, only 5.0% had a higher education degree, but among persons without disabilities in this age group, 17.0% had this level of schooling. In the same population, only 16.6% of the persons with disabilities had finisehd high school or had incomplete higher education, against 37.2% of persons without disabilities.

The level of schooling of persons with disabilities aged 14 and over reached 25.4%, whereas in the population overall, 57.0% and, among persons without disabilities, 60.4%.

In 2019, only 28.3% of the persons with disabilities aged 14 and over were in the workforce, a percentage that reached 66.3% among persons without disabilities.

Among persons with disabilities who out of the workforce in the 30 days preceding the interview, 48.9% reported not having taken any action to find a job, due to health problems; 28.8% because they did not want to work and 10.5% did not find a a job because they were considered wither two young or too old.

Whereas persons with visual and hearing impairment recorded levels of employment-population ratio of 32.6% and 25.4%, respectively, this indicator for persons with physical disabilities amounted to 15.3% (lower limbs) and 16.3% (upper limbs). The lowest result was that for persons with mental deficiency (4.7%).

Almost 7 million persons had visual impairment

According to PNS 2019, 3.4% of the population aged 2 and over reported having extreme difficulty seeing or not being able to see at all, which amounts to a total 6.978 million Brazilians with visual impairment, being 2.7% of men and 4.0% of women. About 0.5% of the population aged 2 and 9 had visual impairment, against 9.2% among the elderly.

Approximately 4.2% of the persons aged 18 and over had visual impairment, being 8.1% persons without schooling or with incomplete primary education, 3.2% with complete primary education or incomplete high school, 2.1% for persons with complete high school or incomplete higher education and 1.0% with a higher education degree.

In the population aged 2 and over, 3.4% had visual impairment; in housing units with an income of up to one minimum wage, percentages ranged between 3.9% and 4.4%. Among housing units with per capita income of 5 minimum wages, the percentage was 1.2%.

According to the PNS, 2.3% of the employed persons had visual impairment. The percentage of persons with disabilities out of the workforce was 6.6%.

2.3 million persons had hearing impairment

The country had 2.3 million persons with hearing impairment (1.1%) aged 2 and over, that is, with extreme difficulty or not being able to hear at all. In 2019, there were 31 thousand children with hearing impairment aged 2 to 9 and, the older the age, the bigger the number of persons with hearing limitations: 1.5 million persons aged 60 and over (4.3%) had hearing impairment.

About 2.9% of the persons without schooling or with incomplete primary school aged 18 and over had hearing impairment. On the other hand, 0.5% of the persons with a higher education degree were in this condition. The income range of 1/2 to 1 minimum wages had the biggest proportion of persons with hearing impairment (1.5%).

About 1.3% of the population at working age (those aged 14 and over) had hearing impairment, but that rate was of only 0.6% for the employed and unemployed population (respectively, 578 thousand and 60 thousand persons). In the population out of the workforce, 2.6% had hearing impairment.

For the first time, PNS investigated the use of the Brazilian Sign Language (Libras). Among persons with hearing impairment aged 5 to 40 years of age (persons with extreme difficulty or not able to hear at all), 22.4% knw how to use Libras. Among persons in the same age group and that were not able to hear at all, this percentage was even higher 61.3% (43 thousand persons) knew how to use this language.

7.8 million persons had physical disability in lower limbs

About 3.8% (7.8 million) of the persons aged 2 and over had physical deficiency in the lower limbs, with a higher index among women (4.8%) than men (2.7%). Among persons aged 60 and over, 14.4% (5.0 million) had this type of disability.

In 2019, 2.7% (5.5 million) persons aged 2 and over had physical deficiency in their lower limbs.

Persons with mental deficiency corresponded to 1.2% of the population in 2019

PNS estimated that 1.2% of the population aged 2 and over (2.5 million persons had mental deficiency Among persons aged 60 and over, that percentage was bigger: 2.9%.

Among persons aged 18 andover, 0.3% of the persons with a higher education degree had mental deficiency. Also, considering the population aged 14 and over, 0.1% of the employed (105 thousand persons) and 0.2% of the unemployed 915 thousand persons had this deficiency).

In relation to per capita household income, 1.0% of the persons (197 thousand persons) with mental deficiency aged 2 and over lived in households without income or with 1/4 of the minimum wage.

1.7 million persons used some kind of resource to improve hearing

Glasses, contact lenses, magnifying glasses, folding cane or guide dog were resources used by 404% of the population (82.7 million persons aged 2 and over). Prevalence was higher among elderly persons (72.0%).

About 0.8% (1.7 million persons) of the population aged 2 and over used some kind of resource to hear better (hearing device, dchoclear implant or individual frequency modulation system - FM system).

PNS estimated that 1.7% of the population (3.5 millioj aged 2 and over) used a wheelchair, cane, crutch, walking frame or some prosthesis/orthesis whereas 0.5% of the population (1.1 million persons) used a prosthesis/orhtesis) to help move their upper limbs. Among persons who used less than one aid device, 5.7% (or 4.6 million persons) had gotten at least one from the Unified Health System (SUS).

15.5% of the elderly had taken a fall in the period of reference

About 15.5% of the persons aged 60 and over had taken a fall in the 12 months preceding the survey This percentage was bigger among women (18.6%) than among men (11.5%). In the group aged 75 and over (22.3%), estimates were bigger than in the groups aged 60 to 64 (11.3%) and 65 to 74 (14.3%).

9.5% of the elderly had limitations to perform activities of daily living

According to PNS 2019, 9.5% (or 3.3 million) persons) of persons aged 60 and over had functional limitations to perform Activities of Daily Living (ADL) such as dressing, bathing, feeding oneself, moving, etc. Women made up a bigger percentage of this group (10.6%) than men (8.2%). The older the person, the bigger the porportion, ranging from 5.3%, for persons aged 60 to 64 anos, to 18.5%, for persons aged 75 and over. In relation to the level of schooling: for persons without schooling, 10:0%; with incomplete primary school, 9.7%; and with complete primary school or above, 6.3%.

One out of every four elederlies had limitations to perform everyday activities

The proportion of persons with limitations to perform Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL), like going shopping, dealing with money, using the telephone, using transportation, cleaning, etc.) was estimated at 20.4%, being 24.6% women and 15.0% men. The Northeast recorded the biggest proportion (25.8%). The older the age, the biggest the proportion: 8.6%, for persons aged 60 to 64 years of age and 43.2%, for persons aged 75 years of age and over. For persons without schooling, the index of 38.4%, higher than in the case of incomplete primary school (21.5%) and complete primary school or above (10.4%).

In 2019, one third of the elderly had been diagnosed with cataract

About 34.6% of the persons aged 60 and over were diagnosed with cataract in at least one of the eyes. The smallest percentages occurred in the South Region (28.3%) and Southeast (33.2%). The urban proportion (35.5%) was above that of the rural proportion (29.2%).

The diagnosis of cataract was smaller for men (29.4%) than for women (38.6%). Considering those diagnosed with cataract, 74.2% (7.3 million persons) received surgical indication and were operated. Among those, 46.7% (3.4 million elderly) were operated by means of SUS.

75.4% of elderly persons used prescribed continuous medication

About 75.4% of the persons aged 60 and over made regular or continuous use of some medicine prescribed by a doctor. The percentage of women (81.1%) exceeded that of men (67.8%), and percentage in the urban area was bigger than in the rural area (69,6%).

Considering the 12 months before the date of interview for PNS 2019, 72.3% of the persons aged 60 and over had been vaccinated against the flu. The population aged 60 to 64 had a vaccination percentage of 66.3%, whereas in the groups aged 65 to 74 and 75 and over recorded proportions of 74.4% and 75.8% respectively.

Among those who were not vaccinated, the main reason for that (41.8%) was not finding it necessarily of rarely having the flu; the second most common reason (19.8%) was being afraid of having a side effect.

64.6% of men aged 15 and over had become fathers in 2019

PNS also investigated, for the first time, topic related to fatherhood and participation in the pre natal. In 2019, considering men that were 15 and over in 2019, 64.6% had been become fathers of at least one son or daughter.

Among men aged 15 to 29 years of age, the figure was of 19.0%, being highest in the rural area (24.1%) than in the urban area (18.1%). Among men aged 30 to 39, the number of fathersm changed from 67.5% in the urban area to 76.9% in the rural area. In the age group 40 to 59 years of age, this percentage reached, respectively, 85.3% and 91.4%.

Among men aged 15 to 29 with a high school diploma or with a higher education degree, 17.1% had children, whereas among those without schooling or with incomplete primary school, 24.8% were fathers. Considering those aged 30 to 39, the percentages were, respectively, 63.1% and 76.7%.

In 2019, the average number of children per man was 1.7

The average number of children per man aged 15 and over, in 2019, was 1.7. Among men aged 15 to 29, who were still at the beginning of their reproductive llife, the average number of children was 0.3. In the group aged 30 to 39, the average rose to 1.3; in the urban area, it was 1.2 and in the rural areas, 1.6. Among men aged 40 to 59 (2.1 children), the difference between urban and rural increases, respectively to 2.0 and 2.6 children. Men aged 60 and over had the biggest average number of children (3.6) and this age group also recorded the biggest difference between the average number of children in the urban area (3.3) and in the rural area (5.0).

Average age of men when they became fathers was 25.8

In 2019, the average age at the time of birth of the first child, among men aged 15 and over or those who already had children, was 25.8, being 26.0 in the urban area and 24.9 in the rural area. In the North Region, men, on the average, had their first child at a younger age (24.3), whereas, in the Southeast, that happened at an older age (26.6).

Men with a high school diploma or a higher education degree were, on the average, 27.0 when they had their first child, whereas in the two groups with a lower level of schooling, this average of age ranged between 24.6 to 25.1.

In terms of color or race, the average age of white men at the time of birth of their first child was 1.7 above that of black or brown men.

7.3% of fathers aged 15 to 34 did not want to have children

PNS 2019 also investigated if men wanted to have children when their partners became pregnant Interviews were of men aged 15 and over who had a pregnant partner of who whose youngest child was under 6 years of age.

Among men aged 15 to 34, 65.5% wanted to have a child at that moment and among those aged 35 and over, this percentage was 74.8%. In the youngest group, 27.% would like to have waited longer to have a child and 7.3% did not want to have children or any more children. In the group aged 35 and over, these percentages were 14.8% and 10.4%, respectively.

76.7% of fathers participated in pre natal

In 2019, 95.2% of men who had a pregnant wife or partner or a youngest child aged under 6 reported there was pre natal assistance during pregnancy. Among men whose wife or partner had pre natal assistance during pregnancy, 61.3% said they had done at SUS facilities. In the urban area the percentage was 57.4%; in the rural area, 79.8%.

In Brazil, 76.7% of men reported having taking part in the pre-natal of their pregnant partners or of the youngest child under six years of age. Figures in the urban and rural area were, on the average, 79.1% and 65.5%, respectively.

81.3% of the women aged 25 and 64 had taken a Pap test less than three years ago

In 2019, 81.3% of the women between 25 and 64 had taken a procedure for to test for cervical cancer, also known as Pap test, less than three years before the data of interview. This percentage was bigger than in 2013 (78.7%). The South Region (84.8%) and the Southest Region (84.1%) recorded percentages above average, whereas the Northeast Region (76.4%) was below the average.

Among women without schooling or with incomplete primary school, 72.5% had taken a Pap test less than three years ago, a percentage below that of women with a higher education degree (90.4%).

About 6.1% of the women aged 25 to 64 had never taken a Pap test, and the main reasons reported were: 45.1% did not find it necessary; 14.8% were not advised to take the test; 13.1% reported being ashamed of doing it; and 7.3% reported having difficulty of accessto heath care services.

16.6% of elderly women had had a hysterectomy

PNS 2019 estimated that 9.2% of women aged 25 and over, in Brazil, had had a surgery for removal of their uterus (hysterectomy). This percentage changed with age, being 0.9% among women 25 to 39; 11.0% among persons aged 40 to 59, and 16.6% among those aged 60 and over.

The three main reasons for having a hysterectomy were: removal of myomas (68.1%, or 4.6 million women), abnormal vaginal bleeding (9.0%) and gynecological cancer (3.3%).

30.5% of adult women had never had a clinical breast examination

In 2019, 33.7% of the women aged 18 and over had had a clinical breast examination less than one year before, an evolution in relation to 2013 (31.4%). On the other hand, 30.5% of the women aged 18 and over had never had an examination, versus 36.6% in 2013.

Data on clinical breast examinations by age group show that 67.0% of the women aged 18 to 24 had never had such an examination and this percentage was reduced with the increase of age. Women aged 40 to 59 were those with the highest percentage of examinations in less than one year: 42.9%.

58.3% of women aged 50 to 69 anos had had a mammograph less than two years before

The proportion of women aged 50 to 69 whi had had a mammograph less than two years before reached 58.3% in 2019, versus 54.3% in 2013. In the Southeast, 65.2% of these women had already had a mammograph in this period of time, whereas, in the North, the percentage was 43.2% and in the Northeast, 49.5%. The percentage of mammographs among women with per capita household income above 5 minimum wages (83.7%) was almost twice as that among women with lower per capita household income (42.9%).

Almost half (49.5%) of the women aged 50 to 69 who had had a mammograph less than two years before had the test at SUS facilities. The proportion of women aged 50 to 69 who never had a mammograph was 24.2%, with a decrease against 2013 (31.5%).

80.5% of the sexually active women used some kind of contraceptive method

In 2019, 22.9% of the women aged 15 to 49, who still have periods and were sexually active used some kind of method to avoid pregnancy: 17.3% of them had had a tubal ligation and 5.6% counted on a vasectomy surgery of their partner. Besides, 4.4% of the women made use of IUD; 9.8%, injections; 40.6% the pill; 20.4%, a male condom; 0,6%, another modern method (female condom, ring, patches, etc.); and 1.2%, some traditiona contraceptive method (calendar rhythm method, withdrawal, etc.)

Among younger women, aged 15 to 24, 51.0% used the pill;17.2%, injection; and 26.5%, a condom. In the case of women aged 25 to 34, sterilization methods reach 15.2% and IUD, 5.4%. In the older group, aged 35 to 49, 38.7% had a tubal ligation or had a partner who had undergone a vasectomy.

Among women who used no contraceptive method (19.5% or 8.1 million), the reasons for not avoiding pregnancy were: 47.3% wanted to or did not mind getting pregnant; 15.7% were already pregnant and 10.4% did not have sexual relationships with men. On the other hand, 0.4% of women between 15 and 49 were undergoing or had undergone some kind of treatment in order to get pregnant.

In 2019, the average age of a woman’s first period was 12.8. About 74.5% (24.3 million) of the women aged 45 and over who had not had a hysterctomy were menopausal and 18.1% were under hormone replacement therapy. Among the 52.2 million women aged 15 to 49 years of age who had a period, 80.1% (41.8 million) were sexually active. In this group, 4.7% had taken part in family planning groups in the 12 previous months.

98.2% of the pregnant women in the period of reference had had a pre natal appointment

In Brazil, among the 4.7 million women aged 15 and over who were pregnant and gave birth between July 29 2017 and July 27 2019, 98.2% (4.6 million) reported having at least one pre natal appointment.

About 86.6% of the pregnant women had started pre natal assistance before the thirteenth week of pregnancy, which represents an increase against 2013, when that percentage was 81.5%. The percentage of women who started prenatal before the 13th week of pregnancy was 80.2% among women without schooling or with incomplete primary education. Among those with a higher education degree, the percentage was 95.4%. There are also differences among the percentages of women having the examination among white (89.5%), black (78.5%) and brown women (86.5%).

For 70.1% of the women who had pre natal assistance, most appointments took place in public health facilities. In 2019, 94.8% of the pregnant women (4.5 million) in this period of reference had the Pregnant Woman’s Card of the Ministry of Health.

About 87.2% of the deliveries were assisted by doctors

Among women who had birth between July 29 2017 and July 27 2019, about 87.2% were assisted by a doctor in the latest birth; 10.4% by a nurse; 1.0%, by midwives (48 thousand deliveries) and 1.4% by others.

A general or maternity hospital was the place where 93.9% of the pregnant women gave birth to their babies. Among births taking place between July 29 2017 and July 27 2019, 45.0% of the pregnant women had a normal delivery. So, C-sections corresponded to more than half (55.0%) of the births in the country, in this period. /p>

About 11.5% of the children under 2 years of age used to drink soft drinks

In 2019, 27.8% of the children under 6 months on the date of interview were fed exclusively with breast milk.

About 57.8% of the children under teo years of age on the date of reference used to eat cookies, crackers or cake and 25.0%, to eat sweets, candies and other sweet food products. As for beverages, PNS estimated that 11.5% of these children used to drink soft drinks and 16.9%, artificial juice.

73.0% of the babies had taken a newborn screening test up to 5 days after birth

In Brazil, 73.0% of the children aged less than two years of age had taken a newborn screening test up to the 5th day of birth. The newborn hearing test, for the early detection of hearing loss, was taken by 48.6% of these children, up to the second day after birth. /p>

The red reflex test - taken by babies to detect andprevent ocular changes - was taken by 60.2% of the children less than two years of age in the first 24 hours of life. In 2019, 62.3% of the children in this age group had taken the newborn cardiac screening between 24 and 48 hours of life, still at the maternity hospital.

76.0% of the children 6 months to 2 years of age were vaccinated against polio

About 76.2% of the children 6 months to less than two years of age had been vaccinated with the pentavalent vaccine, against tetanus, hepatitis B, pertussis, diphteria and the bacteria haemophilus influenza type b, and 76.0% with the polio vaccine.

In PNS 2019, 89.9% of the children 4 months to less than 2 years of age had been vaccinated with two doses of the pneumococcal vaccine, but only 46.7% of th2 years of age had been vaccinated with an extra dose. Considering this last age group, 53.3% received the triple vaccine, against measles, mumps and rubella.