[Effectiveness of School-based Interventions to Prevent and/or Reduce Substance Use among Primary and Secondary School Pupils: A Review of Reviews]. / Wie wirksam sind schulbasierte Interventionen zur Prävention und/oder Reduktion von Substanzkonsum bei Schülern/-innen in Grund- und Sekundarschulen? Eine systematische Übersicht vorhandener Reviews.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to provide a current overview of the effectiveness of school-based interventions on prevention and/or reduction of substance use among children and adolescents aged 5-19 years. METHODS: A systematic literature search was conducted in PubMed, Cochrane Library, Campbell Collaboration, NICE and ERIC. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses published between 2007 and 2013 were included in the analysis. 2 reviewers assessed the quality of the identified review articles and extracted the data. RESULTS: 14 review articles of moderate to good quality fulfilled the a-priori defined inclusion criteria. Capacity-promoting interventions, e. g., those focusing on strengthening self-confidence and peer resistance, show promising evidence of effectiveness. Multi-component and multi-level interventions are more suitable for the prevention of alcohol and cannabis consumption. Findings on the prevention of tobacco consumption are inconsistent. The effectiveness of knowledge-based interventions is limited. The long-term effectiveness of smoke-free competitions cannot be conclusively evaluated as the findings are discrepant. CONCLUSIONS: School-based interventions should include capacity-promoting components and should address further levels beyond the individual, for example, organisational changes of the school setting. Further research is needed, in particular on the effectiveness of multi-component and multi-level interventions for the prevention of tobacco consumption.

[Prevention among migrants: Participation, migrant sensitive strategies and programme characteristics]. / Prävention bei Menschen mit Migrationshintergrund : Teilnahme, migrationssensible Strategien und Angebotscharakteristika.

Health promotion and prevention can contribute to a long, healthy life in populations both with and without migrant background. This paper provides an overview on migrant participation in prevention programmes in Germany. Furthermore, we describe migrant sensitive prevention strategies and characteristics of prevention programmes for migrants in Germany. With regard to participation in prevention programmes, lower vaccination rates are found among children and adolescents who migrated to Germany after birth. Among adults with a migrant background, we found lower participation in general health check-ups, oral health check-ups, cancer screening programs and influenza vaccination. Migrant sensitive prevention strategies address the visual style of the material, a target group specific risk communication, language requirements, a systematic involvement of the target group, and the recognition of deeply rooted sociocultural practices and beliefs. On analyzing a large database on prevention programs in Germany, we found only a few programmes that were exclusively targeted to migrant groups (0.6%). In 16.6% of the programs migrants were addressed as the target group among others. Compared to general population programs, programs for migrants were more often exclusively directed towards girls or women. Moreover, programs for migrants used community-based approaches more often and addressed different age groups. Although information on migrant participation in prevention programs and utilization of migrant sensitive strategies is still incomplete, we can assume that there is a need for diversity-oriented, migrant sensitive prevention.

HPV infection awareness and self-reported HPV vaccination coverage in female adolescent students in two German cities.

Low levels of human papillomavirus (HPV) awareness and knowledge have been observed in the few studies conducted among school-going adolescents. Such data are lacking in Germany. To assess awareness of HPV and of vaccination status among girls attending grades 8-13 in Bremen and Bremerhaven, two German cities. Participants completed a questionnaire in school including questions on demographic characteristics, about HPV awareness and on vaccination status. We analysed the relationship between awareness of HPV, of vaccination status and vaccine uptake and several variables including age and migrant background using univariate and multivariate logistic regression. Six hundred and thirty-two girls aged 12-20 years completed the questionnaire. 50 % had no awareness of HPV, 12 % reported being vaccinated against HPV and 57 % did not know whether or not they were vaccinated against HPV. In multivariate analyses, ever had sex was associated with awareness of HPV, and ever been to a gynaecologist with awareness of vaccination status. Our results may be an indication that female adolescents in Germany are not adequately informed and counselled about HPV and associated issues.

Contributions of serotonin in addiction vulnerability.

The serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine; 5-HT) system has long been associated with mood and its dysregulation implicated in the pathophysiology of mood and anxiety disorders. While modulation of 5-HT neurotransmission by drugs of abuse is also recognized, its role in drug addiction and vulnerability to drug relapse is a more recent focus of investigation. First, we review preclinical data supporting the serotonergic raphe nuclei and their forebrain projections as targets of drugs of abuse, with emphasis on the effects of psychostimulants, opioids and ethanol. Next, we examine the role of 5-HT receptors in impulsivity, a core behavior that contributes to the vulnerability to addiction and relapse. Finally, we discuss evidence for serotonergic dysregulation in comorbid mood and addictive disorders and suggest novel serotonergic targets for the treatment of addiction and the prevention of drug relapse.

Occupation and risk of glioma, meningioma and acoustic neuroma: results from a German case-control study (interphone study group, Germany).

BACKGROUND: Several epidemiological studies have investigated the association between occupation and brain tumour risk, but results have been inconclusive. We investigated the association between six occupational categories defined a priori: chemical, metal, agricultural, construction, electrical/electronic and transport, and the risk of glioma, meningioma and acoustic neuroma. METHODS: In a population-based case-control study involving a total of 844 cases and 1688 controls conducted from 2000 to 2003, detailed information on life-long job histories was collected during personal interviews and used to create job calendars for each participant. Job title, job activity, job number, and the starting and ending dates of the activity were recorded for all activities with duration of at least 1 year. Reported occupational activities were coded according to the International Standard Classification of Occupations 1988 (ISCO 88). For the analyses we focused on six a priori defined occupational sectors, namely chemical, metal, agricultural, construction, electrical/electronic and transport. Multiple conditional logistic regression analysis was used to estimate odds ratios and their 95% confidence intervals. RESULTS: Most of the observed odds ratios were close to 1.0 for ever having worked in the six occupational sectors and risk of glioma, meningioma and acoustic neuroma. Sub-group analyses according to duration of employment resulted in two elevated odds ratios with confidence intervals excluding unity. CONCLUSIONS: We did not observe an increased risk of glioma or meningioma for occupations in the agricultural, construction, transport, chemical, electrical/electronic and metal sectors. The number of 'significant' odds ratios is consistent with an overall 'null-effect'.

Emerging aspects of mobile phone use.

The mobile phone is a modern-day invention, which has managed to reach many parts of the world enabling telecommunications across areas where it was not possible before. Although these devices have proved to be life saving in certain circumstances (e.g., after accidents) and helped improve the quality of life in some sectors, concerns continue to be raised about potential adverse health impacts associated with their use. These range from cancer and cognitive deficiencies to subjective effects, such as a feeling of warmth around the ear used, headache and fatigue. We provide an overview of the concerns raised and summarise what is known about them. We conducted a literature search in Pubmed/Medline to identify published papers on health effects of mobile phones, and an intensive search on the Internet to collect data on the global use of mobile phones. In the year 2000, there were an estimated 500 million mobile phone users worldwide. Today, there are about 3.3 billion users. The use of mobile phones among young children and adolescents is also increasing. Health-risk research has mainly focused on adults and on a single outcome, brain tumours. No significant relationship has been established between mobile phone use and the incidence or growth of brain tumours. Other research indicates emerging concerns, including hearing problems and self-reported health symptoms, such as tiredness, stress, headache, anxiety, concentration difficulties and sleep disturbances, but results remain inconclusive. Currently, there is little epidemiological evidence indicating that the use of mobile phones causes adverse health effects.

Neurotoxic lesions of the caudate-putamen on a reaching for food task in the rat: acute sensorimotor neglect and chronic qualitative motor impairment follow lateral lesions and improved success follows medial lesions.

Reaching for food, or skilled reaching, is used as a test of basal ganglia function in preclinical studies as well as studies of human neurological conditions. Although changes in the end-point measure of success document the effects of neurotoxic cellular damage to the caudate-putamen and its treatment in rodents, there has been no examination of the cause of change in success after neurotoxic lesions of the striatum. This objective was addressed in the present study, in which rats trained to reach for single food pellets with one forelimb, received contralateral quinolinic acid or ibotenic acid lesions of the medial and lateral caudate-putamen. Over 21 postsurgical days, reaching performance was scored for success and qualitative changes in movement elements were examined using frame-by-frame video analysis. In the acute postoperative period, extending over 3 to 4 days, the rats with lateral lesions transported their forelimb and grasped the food, but then ignored the food and did not withdraw their limb to their mouth. After recovery of the withdrawal movement, the rats displayed chronic qualitative impairments in the rotatory movements of aiming, pronating, and supinating the forepaw. Medial quinolinic lesions improved success relative to control rats and did not change qualitative aspects of limb movement. The acute dissociation between transport and withdrawal, the chronic qualitative changes in movement elements, and the differential effect of medial and lateral injury on success, support a complex contribution of the caudate-putamen to skilled reaching that includes sensorimotor neglect, and quantitative and qualitative motoric changes.