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Background: The measurement of psychosocial risk among workers is becoming increasingly important., Aim: To adapt, validate and standardize a questionnaire to measure psychosocial risks in the workplace., Material and Methods: The Spanish version of the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire was adapted and evaluated. Its contents were first validated with a panel of experts. Afterwards a semantic adaptation of the questionnaires was carried out applying it to a pilot sample. Finally, it was applied to 1,557 workers (65% men)., Results: A preliminary questionnaire containing 97 questions was constructed. A good item-test correlation was found, the factorial structure was similar to the original questionnaire and it had a good internal consistency, convergent validity with the Goldberg Health Questionnaire and test-retest correlation. Ranges for the different dimensions and sub-dimensions of psychosocial risk were calculated by tertiles., Conclusions: The resulting questionnaire is useful for measuring psychosocial risk factors at work, with good psychometric properties.

Background: Urgent measures are required to stop the increase in the frequency of pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases among teenagers. A means of facing this problem is promoting sexual abstinence among youngsters. There are studies that confirm the efficacy of this approach., Aim: To show the results of the application of a holistic sexuality program (TeenSTAR) among Chilean teenagers., Subjects and Methods: Students attending basic or high school were divided into a control or study group. The control group (342 students) received the usual education on sexuality given by their schools and the study group (398 students) participated in twelve TeenSTAR sessions lasting 1.5 hours each, given by a trained professor. Assessment of achievements was made using an anonymous questionnaire answered at the start and end of the program., Results: The rates of sexual initiation among control and study groups were 15 and 6.5%, respectively. Among sexually active students, 20% of those in the study group and 9% of those in the control group discontinued sexual activity., Conclusions: A higher proportion of students in the TeenSTAR program retarded their sexual initiation or discontinued sexual activity and found more reasons to maintain sexual abstinence than control students.

Background: Psychosocial events experienced by pregnant women could have an effect on the newborn., Aim: To study the effects of psychosocial events during pregnancy on the birth weight and gestational age of the newborn., Material and Methods: One hundred ninety two pregnant women, coming from urban and rural areas, were interviewed at about 35 weeks of gestation. Information from the obstetrical chart was obtained and different inquiries were applied, about personal history, socioeconomic level, emotional state, vital events, family and social support., Results: Fifty six percent of interviewed women did not plan their pregnancy, 32% considered their pregnancy as a negative event in their life, 62% had symptoms of emotional distress and 81% were unsatisfied with the social support that were receiving. When psychosocial factors were included in the multiple regression analyses, their predictive power for birth weight and gestational age improved. Including these variables, the R2 for birth weight was 0.22 and for gestational age, 0.18., Conclusions: Psychosocial factors during pregnancy are important predictors of birth weight and gestational age of the newborn. Measures should be taken to reduce the impact of these factors on the product of pregnancy.

The prevalence of enamel fluorosis and its severity was studied in 118 young men of 2 socio-economic levels. The subjects were born and resided for at least 6 years in Chilean communities with different natural levels of fluoride in drinking water. There was a high prevalence of enamel defect overall (54%) most of it of mild degree (36%). This was not related to the level of fluoride in drinking water, however further studies are needed since Chilean children are receiving fluoride from other sources. A national program to supplement drinking water with fluoride should take this information into account.

The prevalence of the herpes simplex virus infection was investigated in a chilean female population. During 1981 and 1985 a number of 1,003 women were analyzed through serological methods. A 29.1% of the group referred past history of oral herpes and 59.4% of these presented 1 to 2 recurrent episodes a year. The high prevalence of this infection in our population is shown when detecting that a 91.4% of the female population had antiherpes simplex antibodies and the titer of this antibodies were in direct correlation to the antecent of recurrent clinical herpes and to the frequency of these episodes.