Methodological and ethical aspects of the sexual maturation assessment in adolescents.

OBJECTIVE To analyze methodological and ethical aspects in the sexual maturation assessment of adolescents. DATA SOURCES Books and theses, articles and legislations on the Medline, SciELO, Science Direct databases, besides institutional documents of the World Health Organization and the Pediatric Societies of Brazil and São Paulo, considering the period from 1962 to 2012. The following keywords were used in Portuguese and English: "sexual maturation", "self-assessment", "ethics", "OBJECTIVE assessment of sexual maturation", "puberty", "adolescent", and "adolescentdevelopment". DATA SYNTHESIS The sexual maturation assessment is used in populatinal studies and in clinical daily care. The direct evaluation is performed by a specialized physician, whereas the self-assessment is carried out by the adolescent. This evaluation should be carefully performed in the appropriate place, taking into account the ethical aspects. The patient should not be constrained and the physician must respect the privacy and the confidentiality. Before this evaluation and independently of the used method, the adolescent should receive information and explanation about the procedure and the tools that will be applied. Furthermore, the patient has the right to want or not an adult close to him. CONCLUSIONS Validation studies showed that self-assessment is inferior to clinical assessment and should, therefore, be performed only when the direct examination by physicians is not possible.

[Exhibition of the client's body during the physical examination in the intensive care unit]. / Exposição corporal do cliente durante a avaliação física em unidade d e terapia intensiva.

Descriptive study with a quanti-qualitative approach that aimed at analyzing the involving situations during the exhibition of the client's body in his assistance in the ICU, the involved people's behaviors and the consequences for the own ones. The data were collected together with 15 female nurses, being used the Critical Incident Technique. It was identified situation, behavior and consequence categories. It was chosen, in this study, to discuss the category physical evaluation due to its relevance for intensive treatment. It was evidenced that the patient privacy protection and respect assure the quality of care. The gender of the person who care emerged as a complicating factor for the maintenance of privacy. Both professional insecurity and inability in solving conflicts related to the exhibition of the client's body are perceptible, even predominating attitudes addressed to the protection of the client's intimacy.