Estudio del crecimiento en niños desde el nacimiento hasta los 9 años de edad en Valencia / No disponible

Fundamento: El crecimento en el niño está condicionadopor diversos factores. El objetivo del estudio fue establecerel desarrollo longitudinal de los niños de Valencia,basándonos en los cambios socioculturales que se hanproducido en los últimos años y comparando estos patronesde crecimiento con otros previamente establecidos.Método: Un total de 316 niños sanos cumplían los criteriosy participaron en el estudio. Los niños habían nacidoen Valencia en 1991 y su seguimiento cubrió el periododesde su nacimiento hasta los 9 años. Periódicamentese recogieron datos sobre el peso, la altura y el perímetrocefálico que se compararon con las tablas de referenciapara la población española.Resultados: Se ha observado un menor peso al nacimientoque se compensa a los 3 meses comparado conla población de referencia. Los niños estudiados, tantoniños como niñas, presentan mayor altura, incrementoestadísticamente significativo en las niñas de nuestro estudioen relación con la población de referencia.Conclusiones: Observamos cambios antropométricos enla población estudiada en el nacimiento, 3 meses, 6 añosy 9 años en relación con la población de referencia. Sonnecesarios estudios antropométricos de crecimiento continuadosque permitan en cada momento evaluar a losniños en relación a patrones de referencia adecuados

Background: The child growth is conditioned by diversefactors. This study aims at establishing the longitudinaldevelopment of children in Valencia based on socio-culturalchanges produced in recent years, and at comparingthese growth patterns to other previously conductedSpanish studies.Methods: A total of 316 healthy infants fulfilled the studycriteria and participated in it. Children were born in Valencia(Spain) in 1991. Follow-ups covered the periodfrom their birth to 9 years of the age. Periodically weight,height, head circumference data were collected and theirevolution was compared with the Spanish traditionalpopulation reference data.Results: A lower birth weight was observed which iscompensed at 3 months of age compared with the referencepopulation. Boys and girls in the study showed a higherheight compared to the reference population. Thisincrement was statistically significant in girls in relationto the reference population.Conclusion: We observed anthropometric changes in thestudied population at birth, 3 months, 6 years and 9years in relation to the population of reference. Continuedanthropometric studies of growth which permit to evaluatechildren growth in relation to reference patterns arenecessary

[A reliability study of pediatric somatometric determinations and the level of agreement between 4 observers]. / Estudio de la fiabilidad de las determinaciones somatométricas infantiles, nivel de coincidencia entre 4 observadores.

OBJECTIVES: Given the great importance given at present to determining anthropometric measurements as an indicator of child health, and its general use in primary care, this study aimed to find how reliable the measurements by four nurses at a health centre were. The measurements' internal concordance, and thus the weight of the observer on the values found, was studied. DESIGN: Analytical study of validation of infants' anthropometric measurements. SETTING: Urban Health Centre, Valencia. PARTICIPANTS: 37 children, selected at random by a draw from those attending the programme for overseeing child development. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: Four nurses, using the methods of measurement normally followed at the Virgen de la Fuensanta Health Centre, consecutively determined weight, height and cephalic perimeter of the children. The analyses of variance of the anthropometric measurements for the observer showed no statistically significant differences. The calculation of the greatest discrepancy between observers regarding the mean of the values displayed no quantitatively important discrepancies, either. CONCLUSIONS: High consistency was found in the concordance of the somatometric measurements, as far as technique goes. This means that trained staff can find good indicators of child development and health, even when the staff taking the measurements alternate.

[Evaluation of compliance with advance appointment in a protocol of chronic patients]. / Evaluación del cumplimiento de la citación previa en un protocolo de pacientes crónicos.

The advance appointment has been proposed as one of the mechanisms to be implemented in the health care centers to shorten the long delays inherent to the "old model" from long ago, thus improving the accessibility of these services to the user and optimizing the time of health staff on the basis of the patients' needs. The present study describes the behavior of the users of a health center in Valencia regarding the advance appointment in a program for the control of hypertensives seen in the nursing clinic. The monthly and yearly rates are also reported. In the particular case of the patients who complied with the appointment and of those who were late or did not attend (with or without previous notice), results by sex are also reported. A reduction in compliance was found during the summer months. In males the compliance was lower throughout the year. There was 81.25% of correct attendance during the study period. In 14.74% the attendance failed without known motive, 3.3% of appointments were fulfilled later than established, and 0.6% gave notice cancelling their appointment.