Wellbeing,alcohol use and sexual activity in young teenagers: findings from a cross-sectional survey in school children in North West England

Background  

Adolescent health is a growing concern. High rates of binge drinking and teenage pregnancies, documented in the UK, are two measures defining poor wellbeing. Improving wellbeing through schools is a priority but information on the impact of wellbeing on alcohol use, and on sexual activity among schoolchildren is limited.     

ABORIGINAL HEALTH: A SICK MINORITY SKEWS STATISTICS

ABSTRACT: Overall morbidity and mortality rates are higher among Aboriginal people than in the general Australian population. It is unclear, however, whether this is because of general poor health or a minority with very high levels of disease within a reasonably healthy Aboriginal community. At Cherbourg Community, almost all health care is given by the hospital. All visits to the casualty/outpatient departments at the hospital have been recorded since 1993. These data have been analysed to find the patterns of visiting by person, by diagnosis and by year. Over the 5 years with complete data, most people made less than five visits per year (low visit group) to the hospital ambulatory clinic, but at the other extreme, approximately 14% of people made 50% of the visits (high visit group). People who made many visits in 1 year made approximately three times as many visits as the low visit group in other years. When the high and low visit groups were compared, the high visit group was more likely to be female and to come for problems related to infection, but were less likely to come with injuries or accidents. The age distribution was similar in both groups. If the number of visits to a health service is an indicator of health, then most Aboriginal people at Cherbourg have reasonable health, but a sizeable minority have health problems that extend over several years. This group skews the overall statistics of Aboriginal health and should be targeted for extra attention.     

Loss of heterozygosity at the BRCA1 and BRCA2 loci detected in ductal lavage fluid from BRCA gene mutation carriers and controls.

Female BRCA gene mutation carriers are at increased risk for developing breast cancer. Ductal lavage is a novel method for sampling breast ductal fluid, providing epithelial cells for cytologic assessment and a source of free DNA for molecular analyses. Loss of heterozygosity (LOH) at the BRCA loci in ductal lavage fluid is a potential biomarker of breast cancer risk. The LOH rate was measured at the BRCA1/2 loci and compared with that at a control locus (APC) using free DNA from the ductal lavage fluid of BRCA carriers and predictive test negative controls. We evaluated the reproducibility of these analyses. Free DNA sufficient for PCR amplification was obtained from 33 ductal lavage samples of 17 healthy women of known BRCA status (14 BRCA carriers and 3 controls). LOH rates of 36.4% to 56.3% at the BRCA1 locus and 45% to 61.5% at the BRCA2 locus were found among BRCA carriers. The LOH rate at the APC locus was lower (18.5%). The interaliquot reproducibility for the D17S855 marker of the BRCA1 locus was 66.7%. Intraaliquot reproducibility was 90%. Although we successfully isolated sufficient free DNA from ductal lavage fluid for PCR amplification, the degree of reproducibility of these LOH studies raises questions about the robustness of this technique as a risk assessment tool in the evaluation of high-risk women. Further studies are required to evaluate the specificity and predictive value of LOH in ductal lavage fluid for breast cancer development.     

Are techniques used in cognitive behaviour therapy applicable to behaviour change interventions based on the theory of planned behaviour?

The Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) is increasingly being used to inform the development of interventions to promote health behaviour change. However, although the theory can be used to identify the determinants of particular health-related behaviours, it offers little guidance on how to change these determinants and hence how to promote behaviour change. There is evidence that Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) can be used to support health behaviour change. This article discusses the similarities and differences between the two approaches, and considers whether techniques used in CBT are applicable to interventions based on the TPB.