Analysis of health dynamics in children and adolescents based on the results of regular medical check-ups

The article deals with the issues of health in children and adolescents aged 7–17 years. The objective of this study is to analyze health experience in school-age children and adolescents based on regular medical check-up results. According to regular medical check-up results, 15,192 schoolchildren were examined in 2015, including 12,649 children aged 7–14 years and 2,543 children aged 15–17 years. In 2020, health of 18,708 schoolchildren was assessed, including 14,861 children aged 7 to14 years and 3,847 children aged 15 to 17 years. The authors analyze dynamics of distribution of children into health groups, and age-related incidence of school- related diseases. In children and adolescents of different age, eye disorders occupy first place in the rank of prevalent school- related diseases; the events are followed by musculoskeletal diseases, nervous and GIT diseases, progressing with age, including scoliosis. Percentage of healthy children without the signs of a school- related abnormality at school is reducing. In the majority of cases, pathological abnormalities are found in 15–17-year-old adolescents.

Health Dynamics Through Psychometric Networks in Gynecology, Obstetrics, Reproductive Health And COVID-19 Research

Network analysis offers a valuable methodological and practical contribution to research in gynecology, obstetrics and reproductive health. This analysis enables clinicians to interpret and translate the information derived from their research into better integrated care in the clinical population of interest, allowing them to focus a concrete intervention based on network results, from the perspective of complex model systems. The evaluation of the network reinforces a better explanation of the functioning of various reproductive and maternal health conditions to explain how their etiological mechanisms and concomitant variables interact with each other, of major clinical importance in the current COVID-19 pandemic context.

Using Absolutist Word Frequency from Online Searches to Measure Population Mental Health Dynamics

The assessment of population mental health relies on survey data from representative samples, which come with considerable costs. Drawing on research which established that absolutist words (e.g. never) are semantic markers for depression, we propose a new measure of population mental health based on the frequency of absolutist words in online search data (Absolute Thinking Index; ATI). Our aims were to first validate the ATI, and to use it to model public mental health dynamics in France and the UK during the current COVID-19 pandemic. To do so, we extracted time series for a validated dictionary of 19 absolutist words, from which the ATI was computed (weekly averages, 2019-2020, n = 208). We then tested the relationship between ATI and longitudinal survey data of population mental health in the UK and France. ATI was linked with survey depression scores in the UK, r = .68, 95%CI[.34,.86], β = .23, 95%CI[.09,.37] in France and displayed similar trends. We finally assessed the pandemic’s impact on ATI using Bayesian structural time-series models. These revealed that the pandemic increased ATI by 3.2%, 95%CI[2.1,4.2] in France and 3.7%, 95%CI[2.9,4.4] in the UK. Mixed-effects models showed that ATI was related to COVID-19 new deaths in both countries β = .14, 95%CI[.14,.21]. Our results demonstrate the validity of the ATI as a measure of population mental health (depression) in France and the UK. We propose that researchers use it as cost-effective public mental health “thermometer” for applied and research purposes.

Urbanization’s Impacts on Ecosystem Health Dynamics in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region, China

Accelerated urbanization disturbs ecosystems and influences ecosystem structures and functions. Ecosystem health (ESH) assessments in regions undergoing the rapid urbanization process assist us in understanding how ESH changes and how urbanization specifically affects ESH. We assessed the ESH of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) region, China, including the ecosystem service value (ESV). In this study, we selected nine indicators and applied multiple pieces of software, including ArcGIS10.4, Fragstats4.2 and Geoda1.14 to detect the impacts of urbanization on regional ESH in 1995, 2000, 2005, 2010 and 2015. The results show that ESH in the BTH region increased from 2000 to 2015, especially in the northern parts. The improvements were due to the implementation of key ecological restoration projects protecting and re-establishing the forest in the north. Furthermore, the spatial correlation results indicate that urbanization had a negative impact on ESH in the BTH region, of which the dominant factor was the population density in 1995. The dominant factor was the construction land proportion from 2005 to 2015. We suggest that ecological restoration projects should be continued in northern regions with strong and relatively strong ESH levels to maintain high-level ecosystem health. In addition, more attention should be paid to the ESH level improvement in peri-urban areas.

Quando e como uma doença desaparece. A varíola e sua erradicação no Brasil, 1966/1973 / When and how a disease disappears. Smallpox and its eradication in Brazil, 1966/1973

Este artigo aborda o programa de erradicação da varíola no Brasil (1966-1973), para analisar o fim de doenças e epidemias em contextos locais. O foco recai sobre os antecedentes de um marco específico e crucial desse processo: o anúncio oficial de seu desaparecimento em agosto de 1973 em pleno regime militar. O objetivo do artigo é compreender como as dimensões políticas, científicas e sanitárias se entrecruzaram na pouca repercussão de uma conquista da saúde pública que mobilizou recursos, governos, população e organizações internacionais. O artigo, baseado em fontes primárias e secundárias, está dividido em quatro partes. A primeira discute as questões gerais relativas ao fim de epidemias e desaparecimento de doenças em contextos locais. A segunda apresenta a dinâmica política e sanitária e as características da campanha de erradicação da varíola entre 1966 e 1980, em suas faces internacional e nacional. A terceira discute os desafios, as desconfianças e as incertezas que envolveram a determinação de que a varíola estava eliminada no Brasil do regime militar entre os anos de 1970 e 1973. Na conclusão, retoma-se a questão do término de epidemias e doenças em contextos históricos e nacionais à luz da erradicação da varíola.Palavras-chave: varíola, governo militar, saúde pública, doença, epidemias. ***This article discusses the smallpox eradication program in Brazil (1966-1973) to analyze the end of diseases and epidemics in local contexts. The focus is on the background of a specific and crucial milestone in this process: the official announcement of its disappearance in August 1973 in the midst of the military regime. The objective of the article is to understand how the political, scientific and health dimensions intertwined in the little repercussion of a public health achievement that mobilized resources, governments, populations, and international organizations. The article, based on primary and secondary sources, is divided into four parts. The first discusses general issues related to the end of epidemics and the disappearance of diseases in local contexts. The second presents the political and health dynamics, and the smallpox eradication campaign’s characteristics between 1966 and 1980, in its international and national aspects. The third discusses the challenges, suspicions, and uncertainties that involved the determination that smallpox was eliminated in Brazil, during the military regime, between 1970 and 1973. In the conclusion, ending epidemics and diseases in historical and national contexts is taken up in the light of the eradication of smallpox.Keywords: smallpox, military government, public health, diseases, epidemics.

PSYCHOLOGICAL AND PEDAGOGICAL DETERMINANTS OF THE STUDENTS’ HEALTHY LIFESTYLE FORMATION BY MEANS OF HEALTH AND FITNESS ACTIVITIES

The aim: Is to investigate the psychological and pedagogical determinants of the students’ healthy lifestyle formation by means of health and fitness activities. Materials and methods: The study involved 882 students between the ages of 17 and 23. An analysis of the students’ health dynamics during the period of study determined their motivational and value-based attitude to a healthy lifestyle, the level of health competence and the desire of students to implement it in future professional activities, studied the attitude of students to their own health Results: It was found that during two years of study, the health of students had significantly deteriorated. The number of sick students increased to 34.8 % among males and to 31.9 % among females. It was found that only 12.3 % of male students and 10.6 % of female ones had a high level of motivation for a healthy lifestyle. Conclusions: It was determined that students were aware of the importance of a high level of health to ensure the effectiveness of vital activity (more than 50 % of students realized the value of health in the system of life values), but the vast majority did nothing to maintain it. Most students did not have the knowledge, skills, and abilities to use health technologies during studying and leisure.

HEALTH DYNAMICS OF THE MEDICAL UNIVERSITY STUDENTS DURING SPORTS ACTIVITIES

The aim: Is to investigate the dynamics of the morphofunctional development and physical health of students who were engaged in strength sports while studying at university. Materials and methods: The study involved 360 male students of different faculties between the ages of 17 and 20. Two groups of students were formed: experimental and control groups. The EG students (n=40) were engaged in strength sports (powerlifting, athletics, Crossfit); the CG students (n=320) were training according to the current program of physical education. The study of the morphofunctional development of students was carried out taking account of the indicators of body length, body weight, handgrip test, heart rate, blood pressure, and vital capacity. The level of students’ health was examined according to the methodology of the assessment of the physical health level by G. L. Apanasenko. Results: It was established that strength sports at university affect physical development, functional abilities of the major systems of an organism, and the health state of future doctors in a more efficient way than the current program of physical education. It was found that the influence on the indicators of handgrip test, vital capacity, and heart rate of the EG students was the most prominent positive effect of sports. The evaluation of the calculated indexes (power index, life index) and the level of physical health confirmed this trend. Conclusions: The conducted research asserts the necessity of introducing the sports-oriented form of the physical training organization at the medical higher education institutions of Ukraine to strengthen the students’ health and to maintain the efficiency of the future doctors’ professional activity.

Changes in Census Data Will Affect Our Understanding of Infant Health

Descriptions of the effect of the implementation of a new disclosure avoidance system (DAS), which relies on differential privacy, emphasize the impact of our understanding of contemporary social and health dynamics. However, focusing on overall population may obscure important changes in subpopulation indicators such as age-specific rates resulting from this implementation. The author provides a visualization that compares infant mortality rates calculated using 2009–2011 county-level average death counts and denominators derived from the traditional and proposed DASs. Death counts come from the National Center for Health Statistics and denominators come from the first U.S. Census Bureau demonstration products. These visualizations indicate that infant mortality rates produced using the proposed DAS are different from those produced using the traditional methods, with higher variation observed for nonmetropolitan counties and areas with smaller populations. These findings suggest that the proposed DAS will hinder our ability to understand contemporary health dynamics in the United States.