Parental support for newborn screening for cystic fibrosis.

AIM: To describe the attitudes among parents towards including cystic fibrosis (CF) in the newborn screening programme and towards the potential knowledge of their own carrier status. METHODS: A questionnaire with three to five response categories and an information leaflet was posted to 143 CF parents, 3 matched diabetes and 3 matched population parents, the response rate being 85%, 74% and 70%, respectively. Comparisons between groups were made with statistical tests for independent groups. RESULTS: Eighty-six percent of CF, 70% of diabetes and 77% of population parents were in favour of newborn screening for CF, 47%, 45% and 50%, respectively, wished to know their CF carrier status. The parental attitude was independent of the age of the child, as well as delay of diagnosis and well-being of the CF child at the time of diagnosis. Sixty percent of the CF parents experienced the diagnosis as delayed. CONCLUSION: Parents in Sweden support CF newborn screening. Half of the parents wanted to know their CF carrier status.

Does a short-term intervention promote mental and general health among young adults? - An evaluation of counselling.

BACKGROUND: Since 1988, self-reported mental health problems in Sweden have increased more among young people than in any other age group. Young adults aged 18 - 29 with minor mental health problems were welcomed to four (at most) counselling sessions led by psychotherapists. The present study aimed to evaluate the method's appropriateness and usefulness. METHODS: The study population was recruited consecutively during six months (N = 74) and consisted of 59 women and 15 men. Fifty-one, 46 women and five men, met the criterion for a personal semi-structured interview three months post intervention. Self-assessed health data were collected on three occasions using the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), Pearlin's Personal Mastery Scale and two items from the Swedish Living Conditions Surveys. Thirteen women and six men were not statistically assessed due to incomplete data, but were interviewed by telephone. Four men refused to be interviewed and became dropouts. RESULTS: The largest group of the study population had long been troubled by their problem(s): 43 percent for over three years and 28 percent for over one year. Among those personally interviewed, 76 percent reported psychological distress (> 3 GHQ points) before the counselling. After the counselling, GHQ-12 distress decreased by 50 percent while mastery and perceived health status increased significantly. A majority experienced an improved life situation, found out something new about themselves and could make use of the sessions afterwards. Personal participant session contentment was about 70 percent and all counsellees would recommend the intervention to a friend. Those interviewed by telephone were not statistically assessed due to incomplete health data. Their personal contentment was just under 50 percent, though all except one would recommend the counselling to a friend. Their expectations of the intervention were more result-orientated compared to the more process-directed personally-interviewed group. CONCLUSION: This evaluation shows a clear improvement in self-rated mental and general health, mastery and control in the group completing the study agreement. The intervention seems to be effective for young adults with minor mental health problems, but due to the skewed gender-distribution it is unclear if the method is appropriate for men. After the proposed internal quality improvements, this short-term counselling could enhance mental and general health among young people.