BACKGROUND: The demand for aged-care services in Japan has surged due to the country's aging population. Furthermore, nationwide survey on the current state of aged-care services revealed that the primary reason for the resignation of women working in these sectors was poor interpersonal relationships. Moreover, given that women working in aged-care services work in shifts around the clock to manage the health and safety of the people in their care, they are at high risk of health-related issues including insomnia symptoms. Thus, we aim to examine the association between levels of satisfaction with interpersonal relationships (LSIR) and insomnia symptoms for women working in aged-care services in Japan, as well as the effect of work-life imbalance on the association between LSIR and insomnia symptoms. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, the participants were 472 women aged 18-60 years who worked in aged-care services in Japan in 2014-2016. Insomnia symptoms were measured using the Athens Insomnia Scale, and scores of 6 or greater indicated the presence of insomnia. LSIR were assessed through self-administered questionnaires and evaluated at three levels. The association between LSIR and insomnia symptoms was evaluated using a multinominal logistic regression model. Path analysis was used to examine the potential effects of LSIR on insomnia symptoms by incorporating covariates such as work-family conflict, marital status, and depressive symptoms. RESULTS: Compared to high LSIR, the multivariable-adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence interval) of insomnia symptoms were respectively 1.36 (0.81-2.30) and 2.42 (1.11-5.23) for medium and low LSIR. The path analysis showed that low LSIR were significantly associated with having high work-to-family (W-to-F) conflict and being single. CONCLUSIONS Low LSIR were significantly associated with insomnia symptoms among women working in aged-care services in Japan. High W-to-F conflict exacerbated this relationship. Therefore, enhancing interpersonal relationships may be necessary for preventing insomnia. However, due to the cross-sectional nature of our study, causality cannot be inferred. Further longitudinal research is needed to better understand these associations.
Humans ; Japan/epidemiology* ; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders/psychology* ; Female ; Middle Aged ; Adult ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Interpersonal Relations ; Young Adult ; Adolescent ; Personal Satisfaction ; Health Services for the Aged/statistics & numerical data*

Introduction: Despite policy actions and strategic efforts for improving the reproductive and sexual health of adolescents by promoting the uptake of adolescent reproductive and sexual health (ARSH) services, the utilisation rate remains significantly low, especially in rural areas of India. This study aimed to assess the utilisation of these services by adolescents in rural West Bengal and its associated determinants. Methods: This mixed-method study was conducted from May to September 2021 in the Gosaba rural block of South 24 Parganas, West Bengal. Quantitative data were collected from 326 adolescents using a pre-tested structured questionnaire. Qualitative data were collected via four focus group discussions among 30 adolescents and key-informant interviews among six healthcare workers. Quantitative data were analysed using SPSS, while qualitative data were analysed thematically. Results: Ninety-six (29.4%) adolescents had utilised ARSH services at least once during adolescence. The factors associated with non-utilisation of ARSH services were younger age, female sex, increasing reproductive health stigma and decreasing parent–adolescent communication related to sexual health. Qualitative exploration revealed that unawareness regarding services, perceived lack of privacy and confidentiality at healthcare facilities and disruption of services post-emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic were some major barriers to ARSH service utilisation. Conclusion A multi-component strategy, including promotion of adolescent-friendly health clinics, community support interventions associated with motivation and counselling of parents regarding the importance of adolescent reproductive health, is needed to improve the utilisation of ARSH services. Necessary steps to correct the deficiencies at the facility level should also be prioritised.
Adolescent ; Reproductive Health Services ; Sexual Health ; Qualitative Research ; Rural Population

As a global public health problem, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) is an important factor leading to serious psychological and behavioral problems in children and adolescents. Mental health service plan based on mental health service needs is the key to effectively improve the psychological problems of children and adolescents with ACEs. Emotional support, life skills training, mental health education, and individualized psychological intervention can effectively improve the mental health of children and adolescents with ACEs. Among them, emotional support is an important way to help individual reduce psychological and behavioral problems; secondly, life skills training can significantly improve the individual's psychosocial ability; and mental health education is a necessary way to promote the development of individual mental health. Individualized psychological intervention can promote individual to obtain more professional mental health service and improve their psychological symptoms, which is crucial for preventing the occurrence of mental health problems. Future research can develop targeted mental health interventions based on the specific mental health service needs.
Adolescent ; Adverse Childhood Experiences ; Child ; Humans ; Mental Health ; Mental Health Services

BACKGROUND: Adolescent pregnancy remains a significant public health problem in the Philippines wherein teenage pregnancy has been declared as a National Social Emergency. OBJECTIVES: This study aims to identify the received services and interventions during prenatal and postnatal visits and investigate the relationships between the received services and interventions during visits and the completeness of received services to neonatal death among adolescent pregnancies in the Cordillera Administrative Region. METHODS: This study used a descriptive correlational study design. A survey questionnaire was distributed to target participants among selected municipalities in the Cordillera Administrative Region and asked about the received services/interventions during and after pregnancy. Responses were analyzed using frequency and percentage, Chi-square and Phi Correlation Coefficient. RESULTS: The study showed that a high incidence of neonatal deaths occurs during the first delivery while decreasing prenatal and post-natal visits have been noted. It was also observed that neonatal mortality is high particularly among the category of middle adolescents. The study also demonstrated a significant correlation between Blood Testing and Measurement of the Abdomen or fundal height measurement provided to the respondents and neonatal mortality in the third trimester. However, no significant correlation coefficients have been noted between neonatal mortality and completeness of prenatal and postnatal services. CONCLUSION: Policies and programs on adolescent health development should be enhanced, first, to focus on preventing adolescent pregnancy and repeat pregnancies during the adolescent period, while strengthening the access to health services for all pregnant women, especially adolescent mothers.
Pregnancy ; Adolescent ; Female ; Humans ; Pregnancy in Adolescence ; Infant Mortality ; Adolescent Health Services ; Primary Health Care

INTRODUCTION: We evaluated the impact of public health measures on paediatric emergency department attendances during the COVID-19 and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreaks in Singapore. METHODS: Between 1 January 2020 and 31 July 2020, we retrospectively reviewed paediatric emergency department attendances and admissions in a tertiary paediatric hospital in Singapore before and after a national lockdown to combat the spread of COVID-19 in Singapore. Hospital attendances and admissions were compared with data from a corresponding period in 2019 (1 January 2019 to 31 July 2019), as well as during and after the SARS outbreak (1 January 2003 to 31 December 2004). RESULTS: Compared with a corresponding non-outbreak period, emergency department attendances decreased in line with nationwide public health measures during the COVID-19 and SARS outbreaks (2020 and 2003 respectively), before increasing gradually following lifting of restrictions, albeit not to recorded levels before these outbreaks. During the COVID-19 outbreak, mean daily attendances decreased by 40%, from 458 per day in January-July 2019, to 274 per day in January-July 2020. The absolute number of hospital inpatient admissions decreased by 37% from January-July 2019 (19,629) to January-July 2020 (12,304). The proportion of emergency department attendances requiring admission remained similar: 20% in January-July 2019 and 21% in January-July 2020. CONCLUSION Nationwide public health measures in Singapore have had an impact on paediatric emergency department attendances and hospital inpatient admissions. Data from this study could inform planning and resource allocation for emergency departments in Singapore and internationally.
Adolescent ; COVID-19/prevention & control* ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Disease Outbreaks ; Emergency Service, Hospital/trends* ; Facilities and Services Utilization/trends* ; Female ; Health Policy ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Male ; Patient Acceptance of Health Care/statistics & numerical data* ; Patient Admission/trends* ; Pediatrics ; Retrospective Studies ; Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome/epidemiology* ; Singapore/epidemiology*

Adolescent ; COVID-19/prevention & control* ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Emergency Service, Hospital/trends* ; Facilities and Services Utilization/trends* ; Female ; Health Policy ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Male ; Pandemics ; Patient Acceptance of Health Care/statistics & numerical data* ; Retrospective Studies ; Singapore/epidemiology*

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to explore psychological distress and examine the relationship between this distress and individual, family, and school factors among adolescents in four low- and middle-income countries (LAMICs) in Asia (i.e., Laos, Mongolia, Nepal, and Sri Lanka). METHODS: A total of 4,098 adolescents attending public schools in the four LAMICs were surveyed as part of the Healthy School Development Project, which aimed to develop school capacity for improving (1) health among all school members and (2) the school environment through tailored school health programs. Psychological distress, family factors (i.e., parental understanding and monitoring, and parental tobacco and alcohol use), and school factors (i.e., having close friends, not bullied, school attendance, and health education) were assessed using self-report questionnaires. Data were collected from September to November in 2012 and 2013. Data analysis comprised descriptive statistics, Chi-squared testing, and logistic regression. RESULTS: Over half of the participants were women (53.2%–64.1%), and 33.7% (in Sri Lanka) to 53.8% (in Laos) were aged older than 15 years. Approximately 32.9% reported the presence of psychological distress; moreover, 7.9%–13.2% reported suicidal ideation. Parental monitoring and being bullied were associated with psychological distress in all four countries. CONCLUSION: One-third of adolescents experience psychological distress across these four LAMICs, which poses a substantial public health issue. Adolescents can benefit from family and school-based approaches for screening, ameliorating, and preventing psychological distress.
Adolescent ; Asia ; Developing Countries ; Female ; Friends ; Humans ; Laos ; Logistic Models ; Mass Screening ; Mongolia ; Nepal ; Parents ; Public Health ; School Health Services ; Sri Lanka ; Statistics as Topic ; Stress, Psychological ; Suicidal Ideation ; Tobacco

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to estimate the financial budget of light-curing composite resin fillings based on the expanded coverage of the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS), called “Moon Care.” METHODS: The estimated population with dental caries and the amount of light-curing composite resins used were determined. The fees for the resin fillings per tooth were considered for the calculations. The expected budget for the next five years for children and adolescents aged 5–12 and 5–19 years were calculated. RESULTS: During the first year of the coverage, the budget for children and adolescents aged <19 years was estimated to be 201.8 billion South Korean won (5–9 years, 17.9 billion South Korean won; 10–14 years, 76.6 billion South Korean won; and 15–19 years, 107.3 billion South Korean won). The total budget for the next five years for children and adolescents aged <19 years was estimated at 946.4 billion South Korean won. Likewise, the budget for children aged <12 years during the first year of the coverage was estimated at 63.9 billion South Korean won (5–9 years, 17.9 billion South Korean won and 10–12 years, 46 billion South Korean won), and the total budget for the next five years was estimated at 315.9 billion South Korean won. CONCLUSIONS: Government healthcare plans should be established based on treatment needs and financial estimations. All the items in the NHIS, including the light-curing composite resin filling, should be considered based on their contribution to oral health promotion. Furthermore, in the long term, the coverage for preventive health services should be included in the health insurance.
Adolescent ; Budgets ; Child ; Composite Resins ; Delivery of Health Care ; Dental Caries ; Fees and Charges ; Humans ; Insurance, Health ; National Health Programs ; Oral Health ; Preventive Health Services ; Tooth

OBJECTIVES: With increasing concerns for the rapidly growing minority population in South Korea, this literature review addressed a range of mental health risks among multiethnic youths (MY) in South Korea by 1) comparing mental health outcomes with those of native-born youths and 2) identifying multiple layers of relevant environmental factors, from family and school relationships to culture. METHODS: We reviewed 54 studies that fulfilled specific inclusion criteria. RESULTS: Multiple common risk/protective factors, including family separation, family relationship quality, parental socioeconomic and mental health status, social relationships at school, and cultural acceptance, were noted. CONCLUSION: In general, empirical evidence indicates that minority youths have relatively heightened risks for emotional and behavioral problems. Future studies must elucidate the complex interplay between multiple risk and protective factors and the long-term adaptation and mental health service utilization of MY.
Adolescent ; Family Relations ; Humans ; Korea ; Mental Health Services ; Mental Health ; Minority Health ; Parents ; Population Groups ; Problem Behavior ; Protective Factors

OBJECTIVES: Access to dental healthcare services is a major determinant of dental health in communities. This meta-analysis was conducted to estimate the global prevalence of dental needs and of unmet dental needs in adolescents.METHODS: PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus were searched in June 2018. The summary measures included the prevalence of met and unmet dental needs. A meta-analysis was performed using the inverse variance method to obtain pooled summary measures. Out of 41,661 retrieved articles, 57 were ultimately included.RESULTS: The pooled prevalence of orthodontic treatment needs was 46.0% (95% confidence interval [CI], 38.0 to 53.0), that of general treatment needs was 59.0% (95% CI, 42.0 to 75.0), that of periodontal treatment needs was 71.0% (95% CI, 46.0 to 96.0), and that of malocclusion treatment needs was 39.0% (95% CI, 28.0 to 50.0). The pooled prevalence of unmet dental needs was 34.0% (95% CI, 27.0 to 40.0).CONCLUSIONS: The highest and lowest prevalence of unmet dental needs were found in Southeast Asia and Europe, respectively. The prevalence of dental needs was higher in the countries of the Americas and Europe than in other World Health Organization (WHO) regions. The prevalence of unmet dental needs was higher in Southeast Asia and Africa than in other WHO regions.
Adolescent ; Africa ; Americas ; Asia, Southeastern ; Delivery of Health Care ; Dental Health Services ; Europe ; Humans ; Malocclusion ; Methods ; Prevalence ; World Health Organization