Cardiovascular risk among hypertensive adolescents and the potential benefit of a screen-and-treat strategy.

To evaluate whether screening for hypertension should start early in life, information on the risk of diseases associated with the level of blood pressure in childhood or adolescence is needed. The study by Leiba et al. that is reported in the current issue of Pediatric Nephrology demonstrates convincingly that hypertensive adolescents are at higher risk of cardiovascular death than normotensive adolescents. Nevertheless, it can be shown that this excess risk is not sufficient to justify a screen-and-treat strategy. Since the large majority of cardiovascular deaths occur among normotensive adolescents, measures for primordial prevention of cardiovascular diseases could have a much larger impact at the population level.

Aproximació a l'estudi i anàlisi comparatiu de la transmissió de creences, estereotips i prejudicis referents a l'adolescència entre generacions

El principal objectiu del treball que es presenta a continuació ha estat investigar la visió estereotipada que actualment es troba present en la nostra societat sobre l’etapa de l’adolescència, tenint en compte la perspectiva dels propis adolescents i dels seus progenitors. En tot moment s’ha volgut identificar com es perceben els adolescents, com creuen que són percebuts i com realment són percebuts. De la mateixa manera que també s’han volgut copsar les possibles discrepàncies i semblances entre les visions presentades per ambdós col·lectius. En dita investigació, participaren 213 adolescents d’entre 15 i 19 anys, estudiants de 4rt d’E.S.O, 1r i 2n de Batxillerat d’un institut del municipi de Pollença (Mallorca, Illes Balears), als quals se’ls va administrar un qüestionari sobre l’adolescència, i dues famílies amb fills adolescents, amb els quals es va realitzar un grup de discussió. Els resultats manifesten la presència d’estereotips, però les característiques associades a aquests diuen no ser viscudes en la majoria dels casos.

L’evolució de la psicologia en els centres penitenciaris

Aquest treball tracta sobre l’evolució de la Psicologia en els centres penitenciaris. En el desenvolupament del treball es començarà amb una breu introducció del marc legislatiu que emmarca aquest àmbit per veure quines reformes legislatives s’han donat. A continuació, s’exposaran les funcions que exerceix un psicòleg penitenciari, els instruments i les tècniques més utilitzades, l’itinerari personal que segueixen els interns i quins programes de tractament existeixen en l’actualitat. Seguidament, s’exposarà la part més pràctica que consta de la realització de dues entrevistes [Centre Penitenciari d’Homes de Barcelona (La Model) i Centre Penitenciari Brians 2 de Sant Esteve Sesrovires]. Es finalitzarà amb unes conclusions integrant la teoria i la part pràctica del treball.

Estereotips i prejudicis sobre l'aspecte físic: Com veiem a les persones atractives?

L’objectiu principal d’aquesta investigació ha estat identificar i descriure els estereotips i prejudicis sobre les persones físicament atractives, a més de conèixer si hi ha diferències entre la visió dels adolescents i la visió dels adults en relació a aquest tema. Per a complir aquests objectius, el present estudi s’ha portat a terme amb adolescents de 12 a 19 anys i amb adults de 20 a 60 anys, als quals se’ls hi ha passat un qüestionari dissenyat específicament per a aquesta investigació. A partir de les seves respostes, els resultats clau han estat, per una banda, que no s’han trobat grans diferències entre adolescents i adults, i, per una altra banda, que els models corporals ideals i preferits per ambdues mostres són el musculat i el prim, a més que l’atractiu físic s’associa, en general, amb característiques socialment positives, principalment amb la competència social i a l’èxit.

Establishing International Blood Pressure References Among Nonoverweight Children and Adolescents Aged 6 to 17 Years.

BACKGROUND: Several distributions of country-specific blood pressure (BP) percentiles by sex, age, and height for children and adolescents have been established worldwide. However, there are no globally unified BP references for defining elevated BP in children and adolescents, which limits international comparisons of the prevalence of pediatric elevated BP. We aimed to establish international BP references for children and adolescents by using 7 nationally representative data sets (China, India, Iran, Korea, Poland, Tunisia, and the United States). METHODS AND RESULTS: Data on BP for 52 636 nonoverweight children and adolescents aged 6 to 19 years were obtained from 7 large nationally representative cross-sectional surveys in China, India, Iran, Korea, Poland, Tunisia, and the United States. BP values were obtained with certified mercury sphygmomanometers in all 7 countries by using standard procedures for BP measurement. Smoothed BP percentiles (50th, 90th, 95th, and 99th) by age and height were estimated by using the Generalized Additive Model for Location Scale and Shape model. BP values were similar between males and females until the age of 13 years and were higher in males than females thereafter. In comparison with the BP levels of the 90th and 95th percentiles of the US Fourth Report at median height, systolic BP of the corresponding percentiles of these international references was lower, whereas diastolic BP was similar. CONCLUSIONS: These international BP references will be a useful tool for international comparison of the prevalence of elevated BP in children and adolescents and may help to identify hypertensive youths in diverse populations.

Accuracy of computer-aided ultrasound as compared with magnetic resonance imaging in the evaluation of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in obese and eutrophic adolescents

AbstractObjective:To compare the accuracy of computer-aided ultrasound (US) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) by means of hepatorenal gradient analysis in the evaluation of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in adolescents.Materials and Methods:This prospective, cross-sectional study evaluated 50 adolescents (aged 11–17 years), including 24 obese and 26 eutrophic individuals. All adolescents underwent computer-aided US, MRI, laboratory tests, and anthropometric evaluation. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values and accuracy were evaluated for both imaging methods, with subsequent generation of the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and calculation of the area under the ROC curve to determine the most appropriate cutoff point for the hepatorenal gradient in order to predict the degree of steatosis, utilizing MRI results as the gold-standard.Results:The obese group included 29.2% girls and 70.8% boys, and the eutrophic group, 69.2% girls and 30.8% boys. The prevalence of NAFLD corresponded to 19.2% for the eutrophic group and 83% for the obese group. The ROC curve generated for the hepatorenal gradient with a cutoff point of 13 presented 100% sensitivity and 100% specificity. As the same cutoff point was considered for the eutrophic group, false-positive results were observed in 9.5% of cases (90.5% specificity) and false-negative results in 0% (100% sensitivity).Conclusion:Computer-aided US with hepatorenal gradient calculation is a simple and noninvasive technique for semiquantitative evaluation of hepatic echogenicity and could be useful in the follow-up of adolescents with NAFLD, population screening for this disease as well as for clinical studies.

Walking-induced muscle fatigue impairs postural control in adolescents with unilateral spastic cerebral palsy.

BACKGROUND: Fatigue is likely to be an important limiting factor in adolescents with spastic cerebral palsy (CP). AIMS: To determine the effects of walking-induced fatigue on postural control adjustments in adolescents with unilateral CP and their typically developing (TD) peers. METHODS: Ten adolescents with CP (14.2±1.7yr) and 10 age-, weight- and height-matched TD adolescents (14.1±1.9yr) walked for 15min on a treadmill at their preferred walking speed. Before and after this task, voluntary strength capacity of knee extensors (MVC) and postural control were evaluated in 3 conditions: eyes open (EO), eyes closed (EC) and with dual cognitive task (EODT). RESULTS: After walking, MVC decreased significantly in CP (-11%, P<0.05) but not in TD. The CoP area was only significantly increased in CP (90%, 34% and 60% for EO, EC and EODT conditions, respectively). The CoP length was significantly increased in the EO condition in CP and TD (20% and 21%) and was significantly increased in the EODT condition by 18% in CP only. CONCLUSIONS: Unlike TD adolescents, treadmill walking for 15min at their preferred speed lead to significant knee extensor strength losses and impairments in postural control in adolescents with unilateral spastic CP.