International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health最新文献

Objectives: With rising work pressure, balancing personal life is not easy for any professional. Aspirations at the time of admission into professional college do not last for long, as we observe doctors who are less satisfied than enthusiastic first-year students at dental college. The present study aimed to determine subjective well-being and comparison of satisfaction with life among first professional dental students and doctors of a teaching hospital in the National Capital Region, India.

Methods: The current study was conducted for one month among 100 1st year dental students and 100 junior doctors, including the faculty of a teaching hospital in the National Capital Region, India. Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) was used to assess the level of satisfaction in their lives. Associated factors which might affect this satisfaction were also enquired for.

Results: The mean age of first professional dental students and doctors was 19.3 ± 1.6 and 27.52 ± 2.54 years, respectively. 76 (76%) 1st professional students and 68 (68%) doctors were found to be satisfied with their lives when assessed over SWLS. Odds of being satisfied were significantly more in the age group of 20-25 years. Those students and doctors who had opted for dental, taking it as a reputed profession or as their ambition, were found to be more satisfied with their lives. Students who were satisfied with the hostel accommodation were significantly more satisfied with their lives. Among doctors, those who were either married or were in a relationship and who were satisfied with their income were more satisfied.

Conclusions: A significant proportion of doctors and 1st professional dental students were satisfied with their lives. More students were satisfied with their lives than doctors. Factors like satisfaction with income and reason for joining the dental profession were found to have significant associations.

Background: Adolescents make up 18 % of India's total population, with 116 million being girls. Most research has focused on menstrual health and hygiene practices, with limited studies on menstrual pain/disorder (MPD) among adolescent girls using micro-level data from specific regions of India.

Objectives: This study aims to investigate the prevalence of menstrual pain/distress, its treatment-seeking behavior, and its associated predictors among adolescent girls.

Methods: The study employed data from a cross-sectional study design and interviewed 6,715 adolescent girls from 16 major States of India.

Results: The prevalence of MPD among adolescent girls was 61.8 %. Of these, a higher proportion of girls reported severe abdominal/back pain (90 %), followed by severe distress/irritation (26 %) and heavy bleeding (21 %). Findings suggest that girls who were educated about menstrual health were more likely to identify MPD and seek its treatment. Regarding treatment seeking for MPD, surprisingly, only about 14.3 % of girls sought treatment from health personnel, while 61 percent did not seek treatment at all. Home remedies (57 %), medical shops (25 %), and frontline workers or primary health centers (20 %) were found to be the preferred source of treatment. The prevalence of MPD and its treatment-seeking varies significantly by socio-economic characteristics.

Conclusions: The findings underscore the importance of providing menstrual health education and raising awareness of early identification and treatment-seeking among adolescent girls. The Government of India's efforts in initiating Adolescent Reproductive and Sexual Health (ARSH) and Rashtriya Kishor Swasthaya Karyakram (RKSK) programs are noteworthy. Having sufficient and well-trained peer educators can accelerate the process of health education and generate demand for healthcare services.

Objectives: To examine the levels of social, academic, and emotional self-efficacy in school-aged girls and to identify the factors that contribute to these self-efficacies.

Methods: This study included 246 girls in Sistan and Baluchistan, located in southeastern Iran. This cross-sectional study was conducted on 246 teenagers between the ages of 11 and 18 and the questionnaire consisted of a demographic form, the Self-Efficacy Questionnaire for Children (SEQ-C), the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children (MASC), and the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI).

Results: The mean scores for social, academic, and emotional self-efficacies were found to be 27.24 ± 5.67, 30.52 ± 6.47, and 22.29 ± 6.36, respectively. All categories of self-efficacy had mean scores that were higher than the questionnaire midpoint. Furthermore, for every type of self-efficacy, the study identified significant predictors. To be more precise, social self-efficacy was significantly predicted by anxiety, depression, and education level (R²=13.7 %, p<0.001). Additionally, anxiety and age were significant predictors of academic self-efficacy (R²=4.9 %, p=0.002). Lastly, anxiety and education level were significant predictors of emotional self-efficacy (R²=9.2 %, p<0.001).

Conclusions: The results suggest that focusing on reducing depression and anxiety levels could potentially have a positive impact on various aspects of self-efficacy.

Drawing from the socio-ecological model, this study examined the relationships between child, family, and neighborhood/community factors and self-regulation among five subgroups of adolescents aged 12-17 years with developmental challenges and delays (Attention Deficit Disorder/Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Autism/Autism Spectrum Disorder, developmental delay, learning disability, and intellectual disability). Data for this study came from the 2019 National Survey of Children's Health, a nationally representative dataset (n=3,181). Using multiple regression analyses, we found that not all five subgroups of adolescents shared similar experiences. In sum, having good health and health insurance was positively associated with self-regulation, while adverse childhood experiences and being bullied were negatively linked to self-regulation. Family and neighborhood/community-related variables that were positively related to adolescents' self-regulation consisted of parent-child closeness, having college-educated parents, household food security, and parents' knowledge of where to obtain help in their neighborhood. Family variables negatively associated with adolescents' self-regulation included living in two-parent households and receiving public assistance, but only for adolescents with intellectual disabilities. Socio-demographic variables significantly linked to adolescents' self-regulation were biological sex, age, Hispanic ethnicity, and race. Future research and practice should focus on identifying and addressing the diverse ecological factors influencing adolescents' social-emotional development to improve behavioral outcomes and support their transition to adulthood.

Objectives: Problematic gaming behavior has been an issue in many countries, raising the need for assessment tools. The Game Addiction Scale for Adolescents (GASA) by Lemmens et al. is widely used for assessing game addiction and has been adopted for use in various countries. The GASA consists of 21 items covering several criteria of game addiction: salience, tolerance, mood modification, relapse, withdrawal, conflict, and problems. The present study aimed to investigate the reliability and validity of the GASA when applied to Malaysian adolescents.

Methods: The study was conducted in two phases (reliability assessment for phase 1 and validity assessment for phase 2). The Malay version of the Game Addiction Scale was created using a forward-translation procedure with the help of panelists consisting of researchers and educators from the fields of Psychology, Medicine, and Education to translate from English to Malay. The participants of the study were presented with both versions (Malay and English) during the data collection process. The study checked content validity with the help of 33 panelists and reliability based on the scores of 116 participants who spent at least 1 h and up to 6 h per week playing games.

Results: The reliability was measured using Cronbach's alpha and provided high reliability ranging from 0.671 to 0.903 for all criteria. All criteria scored higher than 0.8 except for relapse (α=0.788) and problems (α=0.671) criteria, indicating that the instrument provides high reliability. The findings from the study show acceptable content validity with high I-CVI values ranging from 0.73 to 0.94 and an S-CVI/Ave value of 0.80. Internal consistency was excellent (α=0.949) and the Content Validity Index (I-CVI) was high for most items.

Conclusions: The results suggest that GASA is suitable for application among adolescents in Malaysia.

Objective: The objective of the current study was to compare the level of sensitivity of body mass index (BMI) or waist-height ratio (WHtR) in identifying physically determinable adiposity levels that are considered to be landmarks for commencing intervention to prevent more sinister cardio-metabolic risks among schizophrenia patients receiving olanzapine.

Methods: The study was a descriptive crossectional one among patients with schizophrenia recieving olanzapine and healthy volunteers as controls. Key measurement of anthropological parameters were compared between the population.

Results: Our findings revealed significantly higher rates of abnormal body mass index (BMI) (X²=17.06, p=0.000036; OR=4.58, CI=2.16-9.74) and abnormal waist-height ratio (WHtR) (X²=35.57, p=2.46E-9; OR=6.37, CI=3.39-12.00) among the schizophrenia patients compared to the healthy volunteers. Notably, BMI identified 43.3 % of the schizophrenia patients as having concerning weight changes, whereas WHtR identified 64.7 %, indicating that WHtR is a more sensitive measure. This discrepancy means that an additional 21.4 % of schizophrenia patients would benefit from weight management guidance based on WHtR rather than BMI.

Conclusion: Our results underscore the critical importance of WHtR in assessing adiposity among schizophrenia patients treated with olanzapine, highlighting its value as a tool for monitoring and managing cardiometabolic risks in this population.

Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted child and adolescent mental health. The study outcome was the evaluation of the pandemic impact on adolescents' hospitalizations in an acute psychiatric ward.

Methods: With an observational and retrospective design, we collected selected variables among adolescents hospitalized in an acute psychiatric ward from 01/07/2017 to 30/06/2022. Data were statistically processed.

Results: Our sample consisted of 118 minors with an average age of 15.7 ± 1.2 SD, mostly represented by females (61 %) and Italians (60.2 %), who made 204 hospitalizations in the study period. The admissions by years drastically decreased in 2020 concomitantly with the lockdown and increased in the first half of 2022. The admission rate was higher in winter and spring, except in 2020 when all admissions decreased (p=0.000). Females more frequently were hospitalized for suicidal behavior and acute anxiety (p=0.000) and were discharged with acute stress reactions, eating disorders, and mood disorder diagnoses (p=0.000). Differently, males more frequently were hospitalized for aggressive behavior (p=0.000) and discharged with ADHD diagnosis (p=0.000). At multiple linear regression, the duration of hospitalization (dependent variable) was negatively associated with "the pandemic period" (p=0.017) and "absent aggressive behavior" (p=0.003), and positively with "autism" diagnosis (p=0.000).

Conclusions: We highlighted the more stressful impact of COVID-19 pandemic on female adolescents, who required more frequently psychiatric hospitalizations due to suicidal behavior, anxiety and mood disorders.

Introduction: Sexual and reproductive health (SRH) education in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, is contentious due to societal and religious taboos in the Javanese Muslim community and being misunderstood as a potential catalyst for the premarital sex of unmarried adolescents. The existing practice of SRH education cannot guarantee reliable information about adolescent sexuality. The research aims to understand the intergenerational perception of SRH education conducted at high schools, which has not been comprehensively researched. This qualitative study was conducted in 2016 to explore the perspectives of adults and adolescents regarding school-based SRH education. Focus group discussions and individual interviews were used for data collection, while data analysis was conducted using a feminist perspective.

Content: The study identified gaps in the delivery of SRH education among Javanese Muslim, Indonesia. SRH education had not adequately addressed how adults and adolescents perceived sexuality as taboo due to moral panic about premarital sex and societal expectations placed on girls to maintain their virginity. Peer counsellors, responsible for imparting SRH information and facilitating communication with adolescents, reproduced adult moral values toward their peers, leading to a reluctance among adolescents to share their issues. Consequently, SRH education failed to reach those experiencing unwanted pregnancy or a toxic intimate relationship.

Summary and outlook: The results of the study indicate the need to challenge intergenerational perceptions regarding sexuality and gender expectations to promote a positive gender perspective within SRH education in Indonesia.

Objectives: Assessment of the relationship between dietary patterns and menstrual disorders among female medical and paramedical students at Beni-Suef University, Egypt.

Methods: Beni-Suef University conducted a cross-sectional analytical questionnaire-based study. Three hundred fifty two female medical and paramedical students agreed to participate in the study. The collected data about demographics, physical activity, menstrual history, and dietary assessment were transferred to SPSS version 26 for statistical analysis. A p value ≤0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results: The prevalence of irregular cycles, heavy blood flow, severe dysmenorrhea, and premenstrual syndrome (PMS) was found to be (21.9 %), (13.1 %), (35.5 %), and (68.9 %), respectively. Poor adherence to the Mediterranean diet (40.1 %) and physical activity (69.9 %) was present. Females with irregular cycles (p=0.472), heavy menstrual blood flow (p=0.007), and severe dysmenorrhea (p=0.029) reported lower adherence to the Mediterranean diet. Mothers' educational level (p=0.034), family income (p=0.005), and family size (p=0.009) were significantly associated with dietary adherence.

Conclusions: Poor adherence to regular physical activity and the Mediterranean diet is highly prevalent in our research and is highly associated with menstruation disorders. So, it is critical to support health education programs emphasizing healthy dietary habits and regular physical activity to improve menstrual health and women's quality of life.

Objectives: Adolescence is an important transition phase and the burden of anemia among adolescent school-going children is not well explored. The present study was carried out to determine the prevalence of anemia among school-going adolescent girls and to explore their awareness on anemia.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 217 adolescent girls studying in a residential school of Bibinagar village, Telangana. A pre-tested, semi-structured questionnaire was administered to collect the data. Hemoglobin (Hb) was estimated using TrueHb. Data was entered into excel and was analyzed using SPSS software version 21.

Results: The mean (±SD) age of the adolescent girls was 13.8 (±0.99) years. About 74.2 % of the girls were in 12-14 years' age group. About 91.7 % had attained menarche. The prevalence of anemia was 81.6 % with a mean (±SD) Hb of 9.5 (±2.7) g/dl among adolescent girls. Among the adolescent girls, 32.7 % had severe anemia, 31.8 % had moderate anemia and 17.1 % had mild anemia. About 86.2 % adolescent girls had heard of anemia while 60.8 % adolescent girls felt that anemia is preventable and only 27.6 % were aware about iron-rich foods. About 38 % of adolescent girls were not aware of any causes of anemia.

Conclusions: The prevalence of anemia was very high among the school-going adolescent girls of rural Telangana. The awareness regarding causes of anemia and iron-rich foods was low among study adolescent girls. Thus, there is a dire need to conduct frequent Test, Treat and Talk (T3) Anemia camps in schools through district school health program.