Parents lack faith in confidential teen consults
CONFIDENTIAL consults with adolescents are viewed with concern by many parents, particularly those with a poor opinion of the medical profession, an Australian study suggests.
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Adolescents
The following articles have the tag Adolescents
Australia behind the pack in tracking youth binge drinking
DESPITE all the concern in Australia about teenage binge drinking, the nation is not even collecting internationally comparable data on the problem, a researcher says.
School screening for depression mooted
SCHOOL-based delivery of screening for early signs of depression in adolescents would be a cost-effective move in Australia, health economists say.
Finding out if kids are depressed makes good financial sense
SCREENING adolescents for signs of depression – and then providing a psychological intervention where needed – represents good value for money, according to a study by Australian heath economists.
Most self-harming teens grow out of it
SELF-HARMING behaviour such as cutting and burning is reported by 8% of adolescents, an Australian study shows, but most abandon the practice by young adulthood.
Folate intake linked to academic performance
HIGHER folate intake has been linked, for the first time, to better academic performance in adolescents, independent of socioeconomic status and homocysteine levels. Researchers in Sweden took blood samples from 386 adolescents aged 15 years and gave them a questionnaire to enable assessment of health-related lifestyle activities and their parents’ education levels. The teenagers’ folate intake was estimated from dietary assessment, and their final semester academic grades from the final year of compulsory schooling were measured. “We found evidence that high folate intake is positively associated with academic achievement as assessed by school grades in Swedish ...
Distracted schoolgirls make better vax patients
SCHOOLGIRLS waiting for immunisation should be allowed distractions such as listening to iPods, say Australian researchers who witnessed sobbing, screaming and fainting on school vaccination days. Mass vaccination with the quadrivalent HPV vaccine under the National Immunisation Program posed challenges in school settings due to the "intense fear response" from adolescent girls, the researchers said. After interviews with 130 school girls, both vaccinated and unvaccinated, as well as parents, teachers and nurses, the researchers found long waits and witnessing other girls' vaccinations allowed fears to build, so that the atmosphere was much worse at the end of ...
Meningococcal C still a risk to youth even after vaccination
MOST Australian adolescents may be susceptible to meningococcal C (MenC) disease, despite childhood vaccination, researchers warn. A trial conducted in the UK to establish antibody persistence after vaccination with the MenC conjugate vaccine has raised questions about waning immunity. The Australian and British researchers found that the majority of six- to 12-year-olds in the UK, where children receive three shots in infancy, would have inadequate serological protection. In Australia, where children received a single dose of MenC vaccine at 12 months of age, the data suggested only a quarter may remain protected by the age of ...
The agony of ecstasy
What is the prevalence of ecstasy use among teenagers?
Regular indoor tanning a bona fide addiction: experts
FREQUENT indoor tanning may be classified as an addiction for a sizeable number of users, and should be addressed in new skin cancer prevention strategies, US experts believe. A study of 421 university students found among those who used indoor tanning facilities, 39% met DSM-IV criteria for substance-related addiction, while 30.6% met the criteria for addictive behaviour based on responses to the CAGE [Cut down, Annoyed, Guilty, Eye-opener] questionnaire used to screen for alcoholism. Indoor tanners with addictive behaviour also reported greater use of alcohol, marijuana and other substances and twice the rate of moderate to severe ...
Electronic media exposure not associated with headaches
FREQUENT use of electronic media by adolescents does not increase their risk of headaches, research suggests. German researchers compared length of computer use, watching TV, listening to music and use of mobile phones and games in 1025 adolescents with rates of migraines and tension-type headaches over a six-month period. After adjusting for sociodemographic factors, no consistent association could be found, apart from a mild association from listening to music daily. “With respect to the current debate on adverse health effects of electronic media use, we cannot point to...specific types of headaches which might predominantly be ...
Gastric banding trumps lifestyle change in obese teens
GASTRIC banding is much more likely to be successful than lifestyle interventions among teens who are severely obese, Australian research shows. A trial among 50 Melbourne adolescents aged 14-18 years found the surgery led to losses of 50% or more of excess weight over the next two years, compared to only 13% in those assigned to a supervised regimen of diet and exercise alone. The study, conducted by the Centre for Obesity Research and Education at Monash University, recruited participants who had a BMI >35 plus medical complications including hypertension, abnormal lipids, asthma, back pain or psychosocial ...
Popularity at school is good for your ego and your health
WHILE many parents get concerned about their adolescent children’s desire to be part of the ‘in-crowd’, a Swedish study suggests popularity at that age may confer future health benefits. The study of 14,000 children born in 1953 found those who were less popular and powerful at school were four times more likely to require hospital treatment for hormonal, nutritional and metabolic diseases by age 50 than were their more popular classmates. The less popular students were also twice as likely to develop mental health and behavioural problems, and rates of self-harm and attempted suicide were also increased. ...
The rules of engagement
How to make teenagers feel comfortable in consultations. WHEN a teenager visits a doctor, they very quickly decide what sort of encounter it will be. Therefore, as with any consultation, the first minute is crucial: the greeting or introduction, focusing on the young person, and most importantly giving them the opportunity to talk for themselves, with the doctor actively listening. Evidence suggests that, on average, the doctor interrupts after 18 seconds of the patient’s story. If uninterrupted, the narrative would take an average of 28.6 seconds. Unfortunately, the task-focused medical interview may constrain the story, ...
Data lacking on antiviral risk to teens
CONSISTENT reports linking oseltamivir (Tamiflu) with serious harm in adolescents need urgent investigation, say leading advocates of evidence-based medicine. In a Lancet editorial, members of the Cochrane Acute Respiratory Infections Group said studies and case analyses had found evidence of sudden death in sleep, abnormal behaviour leading to accidents, convulsions, delirium, hallucinations and confusion. However, a spokesman for the manufacturer, Roche, said the contribution of oseltamivir to abnormal behaviour had not been established. A freedom of information request to the US Food and Drug Administration yielded 2275 adverse event reports from post-marketing surveillance over ...
Adolescents, asthma and adherence
Teenagers are notoriously bad with their asthma management. ADOLESCENTS with asthma remain a highly vulnerable group due to the impact of living with a chronic illness during a time of rapid physical, psychological and cognitive change. Adherence to an asthma management plan – in particular, regular use of a preventer – is often very difficult for teens. A recent article in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology outlines the reasons why this occurs. 1 The authors investigated adherence to preventive asthma therapy and explored beliefs and attitudes to asthma in older urban ...
Alcohol and suicide attempts
The danger of drinking while feeling down. WHILE there have been improvements in suicide rates in recent years, it remains a significant public health problem for adolescents and young adults. During 2006, 1.3% of all deaths in Australia were due to suicide, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. In relation to total deaths, the percentage of deaths from suicide varies according to different age groups and gender. In 2006, 21% of male deaths and 14% of female deaths among those aged 20-24 years were attributed to suicide. The peak ages for suicide among males is ...
Suicidal ideation in children
Therapeutic Guidelines: Psychotropic version 6 includes a new section on suicidal ideation and behaviour in children and adolescents. Adolescents with psychiatric disorders, particularly depressive disorders, have a greatly increased risk for suicidal ideation and behaviour. The prevalence of depressive disorders among adolescent suicide victims is 49% to 64 per cent. This shows the importance of effectively treating these disorders. For some time, there has been concern about the potential for increased risk of suicidal ideation and behaviour among children and adolescents being treated with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). While estimates vary, ...
Carotid abnormalities seen in young obese
ADOLESCENTS with obesity or type 2 diabetes have dangerous abnormalities of their carotid arteries, leading to an increased risk of stroke and myocardial infarction. US researchers found evidence of increased thickness and stiffness in the carotid arteries of 136 obese youths (aged 10 to 24 years) and 128 youths of the same age with type 2 diabetes, compared with lean peers. The authors said the most important finding was that increased thickness of the common carotid artery and bulb could be found in patients of such age with uncomplicated obesity, demonstrating early changes in vascular structure in ...
Sound advice
The legacy of repeated exposure to loud music. EXPOSURE to excessive noise is the main avoidable worldwide cause of permanent hearing loss described by the WHO. There is evidence to show that continued exposure to sound levels over 85 decibels will damage hearing over time. Unfortunately, and often unwittingly, adolescents and young people are putting their hearing at risk with prolonged and recurrent exposure to loud music at concerts, in clubs and increasingly with personal music players such as iPods and MP3 players. Recent UK research found that 66% of adolescents tested were listening to ...
A scaly and pink rash
A teenager is embarrassed by an itchy rash. CASE PRESENTATION A 15-YEAR-OLD male presented with a moderately itchy rash on the trunk of three weeks’ duration. He experienced transient malaise, fever and headache several days before the rash appeared. On further questioning, an initial solitary scaly patch on the shoulder had appeared several days before the current rash. What is the likely diagnosis? Figure 1. An itchy rash on the trunk and proximal limbs (secondary eruption of PR). Figure 2. Individual patches and plaques with ...
When fatigue becomes chronic
FATIGUE is a very common presenting problem among teenagers. It may be readily dismissed due to lifestyle factors involving late nights, television or computer time, and the physiological changes of puberty affecting sleep with resultant relative sleep deprivation. However, if your teenage patient appears to be having good quality and duration of sleep, yet has persisting fatigue, further assessment is required. A recent article in Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine ( 2008;162:469-75 ) looked at persisting fatigue in a longitudinal population-based survey of 1880 adolescents in the UK to assess whether sedentary behaviour, obesity, ...
Hypos in young not linked to cognitive decline
CONCERNS that using intensive insulin therapy during adolescence may pose a threat to future cognitive function have been allayed by a long-term study. It had been unclear whether hypoglycaemia resulting from intensive insulin therapy posed a risk because of rapid developmental changes occurring in the central nervous system during childhood and adolescence. Researchers followed 249 patients with type 1 diabetes aged between 13 and 19 years in the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial and compared cognitive function at the start of the study and 12 years later using cognitive tests. In the study, a total of ...
Developing a habit
The legacy of cannabis use during the teenage years. ADOLESCENCE is a time of change, experimentation and exploration, not only physically and cognitively but also psychologically. It is when the importance of the peer group emerges and when risky behaviours can be seen, particularly initiation of alcohol and tobacco use, increased motor vehicle accidents, and sexually transmitted infections due to unsafe sex practices. Cannabis use is also often initiated during the adolescent years, with the 2004 Australian Institute of Health and Welfare National Drug Strategy Household Survey reporting 18% of 14 to 19 year olds and ...
Sun, surf and spots
A 21-year-old man presents with an asymptomatic pale ‘spotty’ rash on his trunk that has spread over summer. He is concerned about the unsightly appearance, especially when he is bare-chested at the surf club. He is also concerned that it may be infectious. What is your diagnosis and management? Figures A and B: Pityriasis versicolor presents as finely scaling discoloured patches on the trunk. DIAGNOSIS Pityriasis versicolor (PV), or tinea versicolor, is a common condition affecting adolescents and young adults. PV presents as finely scaling discoloured ...