Empathy differences by gender and specialty preference in medical students: a study in Brazil.

OBJECTIVE: We have conducted this study to assess medical students' empathy and to examine empathy differences by students' socio-demographic characteristics, including gender, and specialty preference. METHODS: We have conducted a cross-sectional and descriptive research. Among 595 medical students registered at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (Brazil) in 2012, we have selected a sample of 320 enrolled in the first, third, fifth, seventh, ninth, eleventh, and in the last semester of the course. The response rate obtained was 70.6% (n=226). Data was collected by using a self-report questionnaire, and the variables analyzed included course semester, socio-demographic characteristics (such as age, gender, household monthly income and parents level of education), students' specialty preference, and empathy assessed by the Jefferson Scale of Empathy. We have used descriptive statistics, 95% Confidence Interval for percentages, Student's t-test, and Analysis of Variance to analyze the data. RESULTS: Mean empathy among students was (M=119.7, SD=9.9), with no difference by according to semester (F=1.5, p=.2). Empathy means were higher among females (M=118.3, SD=10.6) than among males (M=121.0, SD=9.3, t=-2.1, p=.032). Students who preferred a people-oriented specialty obtained significantly higher mean scores (M=121.5, SD=8.1) in comparison to students who preferred technology-oriented specialties (M=118.0, SD=11.3, t=2.4, p=.02). CONCLUSIONS: Our study has found consistently high scores of empathy among medical students enrolled in all levels of training at the Federal University of Santa Catarina, and higher empathy among women and students who intend to pursue a people-oriented specialty. Conclusions on higher empathy among medical students require further study.

Association of the Waist-to-Height Ratio with Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Children and Adolescents: The Three Cities Heart Study.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the best anthropometric index in relation to cardiovascular disease risk factors among children and adolescents. METHODS: This cross-sectional school-based study was conducted among a random sample of 3179 students, aged 6 to 18 years, in three large cities in Brazil. RESULTS: The prevalence of overweight and obesity was 10% and 5%, respectively. In relation to the students in the lower quartile (Q1) of the distribution of subscapular skinfold, the students in the upper quartile (Q4) presented a 2.0 times higher risk (odds ratio) of having elevated total cholesterol levels. Overweight and obese students had a 3.3 times higher risk of having elevated systolic blood pressure, and a 1.9 times higher risk of elevated diastolic blood pressure than other students. The less active students presented a 1.58 times higher risk of having waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) above the upper tertile (Q3). WHtR mean values was 0.46 (SE 0.00) presented the largest area under the curve (AUC) [0.613 (CI995%:0.578-0.647)] for high total cholesterol levels, [0.546 (CI995%: 0.515-0.578)] for low HDL-C levels, and [0.614 (CI95%: 0.577-0.651)] for high LDL-C levels, while body mass index presented the largest AUC [0.669 (CI95%: 0.64-0.699)] for increased diastolic blood pressure followed by the waist circumference for increased systolic blood pressure [0.761 (CI95%: 0.735-0.787)]. CONCLUSIONS: WHtR is considered as a simple and accurate anthropometric parameter that identifies youth with cardiovascular risk factors. In this study, WHtR above 0.44 was indicative of risk factors in children and adolescents. These findings can be applied in future preventive strategies against CVDs, and screening programs.

Dislipidemias em crianças e adolescentes / Dyslipidemia in children and adolscents

A prevalência da dislipidemia, em associação ou não à obesidade infantil, tem apresentado aumento nos últimos anos, atingindo valores que variam entre 2 por cento e 40 por cento e sendo mais frequente com o aumento da idade e entre as meninas. Há fortes evidências funcionais e anatômicas da presença de aterosclerose já na infância. sendo a dislipidemia o fator de risco de maior impacto em sua gênese. Além disso determinadas doenças e medicamentos modificam o metabolismo lipídico nessa população em direção a um perfil mais aterogênico. Critérios e valores de referência já foram propostos para caracterização dessas alterações metabólicas. O tratamento baseia-se inicialmente em dieta, atividade física e controle do peso, e quando indicado, pode-se utilizar medicamentos como estatinas, resinas, ezetimiba e nutracêuticos.