Are the health messages in schoolbooks based on scientific evidence? A descriptive study.

BACKGROUND Most textbooks contains messages relating to health. This profuse information requires analysis with regards to the quality of such information. The objective was to identify the scientific evidence on which the health messages in textbooks are based. METHODS The degree of evidence on which such messages are based was identified and the messages were subsequently classified into three categories: Messages with high, medium or low levels of evidence; Messages with an unknown level of evidence; and Messages with no known evidence. RESULTS 844 messages were studied. Of this total, 61% were classified as messages with an unknown level of evidence. Less than 15% fell into the category where the level of evidence was known and less than 6% were classified as possessing high levels of evidence. More than 70% of the messages relating to "Balanced Diets and Malnutrition", "Food Hygiene", "Tobacco", "Sexual behaviour and AIDS" and "Rest and ergonomics" are based on an unknown level of evidence. "Oral health" registered the highest percentage of messages based on a high level of evidence (37.5%), followed by "Pregnancy and newly born infants" (35%). Of the total, 24.6% are not based on any known evidence. Two of the messages appeared to contravene known evidence. CONCLUSION Many of the messages included in school textbooks are not based on scientific evidence. Standards must be established to facilitate the production of texts that include messages that are based on the best available evidence and which can improve children's health more effectively.

Detección de violencia contra la mujer en la consulta del médico de familia.

Objectives. To find out the magnitude of violence against female partners among patients who visit their family doctor. To study frequency and acceptance of its investigation by the family doctor and to assess the effectiveness of a screening question on abuse. Design. Descriptive, cross-sectional study. Setting. Primary care, 4 samples from 2 urban health centres in Jaén, Spain. Participants. Who participated 170 women randomly selected from the female consulting population. Measurements. Interviews by means of the Bradley modified test and the anxiety and depression Goldberg scales. Perceived health, frequency of detection of domestic violence, by the family doctor, and female opinions were also studied. Results. During the last year, abuse against women was detected in 22.9% of the female population consulting their family doctor (95% confidence interval [95% CI], 16.6-29.2). Abused women had a worse perception of health (odds ratio [OR] =4.2; 95% CI, 1.02-17.5) and a higher probability of depression (OR=4.7; 95% CI, 1.8-12.5) independently from the rest of variables. The question "How are the things going with your partner?" as a screening of abuse does obtain a positive probability quotient of 6.23 (95% CI, 3.6-10.9), a specificity of 89% and a negative predictive value of 90%. Of those interviewed, 96.5% would not mind if their family doctor approached the couple's relationships, a situation that occurs in 24.7% of cases. Conclusions. Some degree of abuse was detected in almost a quarter of women who consult their family doctor. Family doctors do not usually ask about family and partner relationships and environment, although for almost all women it is well appreciated and the item has an increased likelihood ratio and high negative predictive value in detecting abuse.