Percepción de los padres acerca de la comunicación sobre sexualidad de sus hijos con trastorno del espectro autista / Parents' perceptions of communication about sexuality to their children with autism spectrum disorder

Objetivo: Explorar las percepciones de los padres en relación con la comunicación sobre sexualidad hacia sus hijos que se encuentran dentro del espectro autista. Método:Estudio cualitativo descriptivo y exploratorio, que fue desarrollado en tres centros de atención a niños y adolescentes autistas en los estados de Baja California y Sinaloa, México. Participaron cuatro madres y un padre de niños/jóvenes con Trastorno del Espectro Autista y para la recogida de datos fueron utilizadas entrevistas semiestructuradas. Los datos fueron analizados por medio de la técnica de análisis de contenido. Resultados:Fueron identificados dos temas: (1) Barreras para la comunicación sobre sexualidad, con cuatros subtemas (Inadecuada identificación de temas de sexualidad, baja autoeficacia para la comunicación sobre sexualidad, falta de profesionales capacitados y falta de herramientas o materiales adecuados para la comunicación sobre sexualidad); (2) Miedos y preocupaciones por la falta de comunicación sobre sexualidad. Conclusiones: Los padres reconocen los aspectos importantes que influyen en el tipo y la forma en que se abordan los temas sexuales, reduciéndose a la higiene personal y la masturbación, dejando de lado aquellos que implican mayor sensibilidad como el abuso sexual. Asimismo, los padres solo tocan los temas necesarios, conforme a la etapa de desarrollo del hijo.(AU)

Objective: To explore parents' perceptions in relation to communication about sexuality with their autistic children. Methodology: Qualitative, descriptive and exploratory study, which was developed in three care centers for autistic children and adolescents in the states of Baja California and Sinaloa, Mexico. Four mothers and one father of children/adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder participated and semi-structured interviews were used for data collection. The data were analyzed by means of the content analysis technique. Results: Two themes were identified: (1) Barriers to communication about sexuality, with four sub-themes (Inadequate identification of sexuality issues, low self-efficacy for communication about sexuality, lack of trained professionals, and lack of adequate tools or materials for communication about sexuality); (2) Fears and concerns about lack of communication about sexuality. Conclusions: Parents recognize the important aspects that influence the type and manner in which sexual topics are addressed, being reduced to personal hygiene and masturbation, leaving aside those that involve greater sensitivity such as sexual abuse, likewise, parents only touch on the necessary topics, according to the child's stage of development.(AU)

Comunicación sexual en padres de hijos con trastorno del espectro autista / Sexual Communication in Parents of Childrenwith Autism Spectrum Disorder

La sexualidad forma parte del desarrollo de todos los seres humanos, desafortunadamente una gran parte de las personas con discapacidad intelectual e incluso las personas con Trastorno del Espectro Autista (TEA) no reciben una atención necesaria referente a la salud sexual. El presente estudio tiene como finalidad comparar la comunicación sexual de los padres de acuerdo a los niveles de TEA de los hijos(as). Para ello, se utilizó un diseño de tipo descriptivo de corte transversal. La muestra fue conformada por 152 padres de hijos(as) con TEA, se utilizó el apartado de comunicación sexual del “Parenting and Child Sexuality Questionnaire” (Morawaska et al., 2015) para medir la comunicación sexual. Como resultado se encontró que la comunicación sexual entre padres e hijos(as) con TEA es muy general, donde los temas más complejos como el abuso sexual y embarazo no fueron abordados por los padres, además se encontraron diferencias significativas entre la comunicación sexual de los padres y los niveles de TEA de los hijos(as). En ese sentido, es importante que los profesionales de la salud alienten y apoyen a los padres en la práctica de la comunicación sexual con sus hijos con TEA. (AU)

Sexuality is part of the development of all human beings, unfortunately a large part of people with intellectual disabilities and even people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) do not receive the necessary attention regarding sexual health. The pres-ent study aims to compare parents’ sexual communication according to their children’s ASD levels. For this purpose, a cross-sectional descriptive design was used. The sample consisted of 152 parents of children with ASD, and the sexual communication section of the “Parenting and Child Sexuality Questionnaire” (Morawaska et al., 2015) was used to measure sexual communication. As a result, it was found that sexual communication between parents and children with ASD is very general, where more complex topics like sexual abuse and pregnant parents did not address and there are significant differences between parents’ sexual communication and children’s ASD levels. In that sense, it is important that health professionals encourage and support parents in the practice of sexual communication with their children with ASD. (AU)

Design, Assessment, and Validation of a Questionnaire to Estimate Food-Dependent Exercise-Induced Anaphylaxis Prevalence in Latin American Population.

There are no epidemiological data about food-dependent exercise-induced anaphylaxis (FDEIA) in Latin America. Our aim was to design, assess, and validate a questionnaire to identify potential FDEIA cases and/or estimate its prevalence by self-report. Questions were included in the instrument to address the main symptoms of FDEIA, type/intensity of physical activity, and anaphylaxis. The instrument's clarity, comprehension and repeatability were evaluated. These evaluations were carried out by Hispanic people (Argentinians/Colombians/Mexicans/Peruvians), including nine individuals with medical diagnosis of FDEIA, and Brazilians. The Flesch-Kincaid score was calculated using the INFLESZ software. The instrument was translated from Spanish to Brazilian Portuguese following the translation back-translation procedure. The participants rated the two versions of the questionnaire as clear and comprehensible (three-point ordinal scale) and very easy to understand [0.33; average (scale 0-10)]. For these evaluations, the Kendall's W coefficient showed strong agreement among raters (W = 0.80; average). The Flesch-Kincaid score was 63.5 in average (documents considered as readable). The Cohen's Kappa coefficient showed almost perfect agreement in repeatability (0.88; average). The validation process of two versions of an instrument, used to identify potential FDEIA cases, was successfully carried out and it was found applicable to Latin American countries for generating epidemiological data.

Prevalence of Adverse Reactions to Gluten and People Going on a Gluten-Free Diet: A Survey Study Conducted in Brazil.

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of gluten-related disorders (GRD) and adherence to a gluten-free diet (GFD) remains unknown in Brazilian population and there is no published information on the scientific literature about the proportion of Brazilians that were diagnosed with a gluten-related disorder. Thus, the aim of this work was to estimate the prevalence of GRDs and adherence to a GFD by self-report in adult Brazilian population. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A questionnaire-based cross-sectional study was conducted in two Brazilian cities. RESULTS: The response rate was 93.2% (1630/1749). The self-reported prevalence rates were (95% CI): adverse reactions to gluten 10.06% (8.64-11.62); gluten sensitivity 2.33% (1.65-3.18); physician-diagnosed celiac disease 0.3% (0.09-0.71); non-celiac gluten sensitivity 1.71% (1.14-2.47); wheat allergy 0.79% (0.42-1.36); adherence to gluten-free diet 7.48% (6.25-8.87); gluten avoiders 15.21% (13.5-17.05). Among those who were following a GFD (n = 122), 65.6% (n = 80) of them reported that they did not develop symptoms after wheat/gluten ingestion and 50% (n = 61) were following the diet without medical/dietitian advice. The main motivation for following a GFD in the self-reported and non-self-reported gluten sensitivity groups were the symptoms triggered after wheat/gluten ingestion (86.8%) and weight control (57.1%), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Implementation of programs to increase awareness about GRDs among healthcare professionals and giving scientifically sound information to the general population about the risks and benefits for following a GFD are desirable actions in Brazil. The results also add to the growing body of evidence for highlighting the under-diagnosis of GRD and the trend for following a GFD in Latin America.