[Aspects related to drug adherence in a group of caregivers of children and adolescents with epilepsy]. / Aspectos relacionados al cumplimiento de medicamentos en un grupo de encargados(as) de niños y adolescentes con epilepsia.

The purpose of this study was to describe the aspects related with the adherence of medicine in patients with epilepsy diagnosis. The non probabilistic sample was composed by fifty-four parents or legal guardians of children/adolescents with epilepsy. A self-report instrument was utilized in this study and the design was based on Health Belief Model. Descriptive statistics were utilized (mean, median, frequencies and percents) to describe the results and crosstabs tables to describe specific relations between variables. It was found that the parents/legal guardians reported that they administered their children's medications as prescribed. However, the two aspects that most affect the adherence with the treatment were that the participant forgot the medicine administration and the time between each medical appointment. We conclude that the adherence problem is complex and involved a lot of individual, social, psychological, structural, attitudes, beliefs, type of medical services factors, among others. These factors will be studied more emphatically in futures studies.

[Knowledge about sexuality and sex behavior in university students with visual impairment: need of educational materials]. / Conocimiento en sexualidad y prácticas sexuales en estudiantes universitarios con impedimentos visuales: necesidad de materiales educativos.

The objective of this study was to identify the knowledge about sexuality (including STD/HIV/AIDS), the sexual practices more frequents and sexuality education sources in a group of students with visual impairments. A self administered questionnaire was utilized in 50 students with visual impairment. Descriptive statistics were utilized. Seventy six percent (76.0%) of the participants presented a high knowledge about sexuality and 22.0% presented moderated knowledge. The no penetrative sexual practice more frequent was corporal caress (82.0%) and the penetrative was penis-vagina (74.0%). The source of sexuality education most common was the conferences (83.9%). Although, in general, the knowledge about sexuality was high, there are "gaps" in them. There is the need to develop educational materials adapted to the needs of the studied population.

Perceptions assessment of a group of Puerto Rican pregnant adolescents regarding the susceptibility, severity, benefits and barriers of teenage pregnancy.

OBJECTIVE: This assessment was aimed at describing the perceptions of a group of Puerto Rican pregnant adolescents regarding the susceptibility, severity, benefits and barriers of adolescents pregnancy. METHOD: A non probabilistic sample of 71 adolescents that receive prenatal services at a hospital in the greater metropolitan area of San Juan, Puerto Rico. Descriptive statistics were utilized to describe the population. RESULTS: A 50.7% of the participants had a moderated high susceptibility perception and 53.5% had a high severity perception. In general, 70.4% of the participants perceived that the prenatal care during the adolescent pregnancy is highly beneficial and 60.0% had a low barriers perceptions. CONCLUSION: The assessment specifically demonstrated the need to create permanent educational programs in hospitals and schools. It is important that the health professionals develop basic educational strategies to procure effective behavior modification in adolescents.

[Women abandoned by Social and Health Agencies. Challenge in the prevention of HIV/AIDS]. / Mujeres Abandonadas por Agencias Sociales y de Salud. Reto en la Prevención del VIH/SIDA.

The present study examined the role of an intervention directed to link a group of sexual workers with social and health services. The subjects receptivity to use these services was measured by the degree of acceptance that the selected agencies provided to the participants of this study. The present investigation included two groups of subjects consisting of sexual workers and other women that were at high risk of prostitution because of their social circumstances. The sample consisted of 92 women residents of either the San Juan area of other towns from the eastern part of Puerto Rico. The method of focal group and a agencies directory was utilized during the intervention. In addition, the attempt to establish a helpful relationship between the subject and the agency was also incorporated to the investigation. The present findings showed the presence of a considerable social distance between the agencies and the subjects studies. The use of the studied intervention failed to be an efficient strategy. The authors recommend to explore different and new intervention modalities that elicit significant social change. Moreover, these interventions should innovate the current treatments aimed at the social problems related to sexual work.