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This year marks the 20th anniversary of the publication by the Institute of Mother and Child in Warsaw of a document establishing the Polish standards for preventive health care of school-age children and adolescents by general practitioners, which are still in force today. Since then, their health status and the health risk factors have changed. Polish society and its expectations of health care are also different. The Polish economy has grown, and the proportion of the public budget spent on health care has increased. The current system of preventive health care for young people seems to be facing a problem. Over the past decade, the percentage of children and adolescents attending preventive medical visits in Poland has decreased by approximately 30%. During well-care visits, doctors commonly avoid selected physical examinations and sensitive topics, such as sexuality or mental health. It appears that most young people visit doctors only because they falsely believe that check-up visits are mandatory and usually rate the experience negatively. The co-authors of this paper conclude that there is a need for a broad debate on the Polish standards of preventive health care for adolescents and their possible reform, which would lead to their adaptation to the challenges of modern times and the opportunities offered by the progress of medical science and technology. The selection of topics is subjective and certainly does not cover all aspects requiring attention. The authors’ intention is to contribute to further discussion rather than to provide a basis for conclusions or postulates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Suicidal behaviour is a major public health problem in Poland. There is compelling evidence that genetic factors contribute to the risk for suicidal behavior. Studies suggest a link between single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs1049353 (1359 G/A; Thr453Thr) of cannabinoid receptor 1 gene (CNR1) and mental disorders, including suicide behaviour., Aim: The purpose of the study was to determine whether 1359 G/ A polymorphism of CNR1 is more frequent in people attempting suicide than in the general population., Materials and Methods: A sample of 76 genetically unrelated participants were enrolled into the study: 48 patients after a suicide attempt and the control group - 28 individuals without a history of suicide attempts. The genotyping of 1359 G/A polymorphism of CNR1 gene was performed with the application of Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP) analysis., Results: None of the 1359 G/A polymorphisms of CNR1 gene seem to occur more frequently among individuals who attempted suicide., Conclusions: Further research with larger samples with different racial and geographic origins are needed in the future., (© 2022 MEDPRESS.)

Prophylactic medical examinations - called well-child visit - are among the benefits guaranteed under basic health care. The prophylactic visit should include, among others: physical examination and an interview (with the adolescent and the parent), as well as individual pro-health education., Aim: The aim of the study was to answer the question whether preventive medical visits of 15/16 year olds from the Warsaw Agglomeration are carried out within the scope defined by the Minister of Health and in accordance with standards., Materials and Methods: The course of well-child visit was evaluated on the basis of 359 anonymous questionnaires filled in by students from randomly selected 11 schools from the Warsaw Agglomeration., Results: In 3.3% of the respondents, the doctor did not carry out any of the physical examinations asked in the questionnaire. The most often doctor auscultated chest organs (94.4% of respondents), the least frequently examined genitals in girls (2.1%). During the visit, the doctors raised less than 4 topics on average. The most frequent subjects of discussion were menstruation (80.0% of girls), chronic diseases in the adolescent's family (59.1%) and physical activity (51.0%); the rarest ones were depression and suicidal thoughts (3.1%), violence (1.9%) and the influence of the family on the patient's well-being (1.4%). The compatibility of the gender of the patient and the doctor increased the number of topics discussed., Conclusions: The confrontation of the data obtained by us with the content of the Minister of Health's regulation and the standards in force in Poland provides the basis for a negative assessment of the implementation of medical prophylactic examinations in the adolescents in the Warsaw Agglomeration., (© 2021 MEDPRESS.)