Serum and erythrocyte magnesium concentrations (S-Mg, E-Mg) were measured in 122 junior high school students followed up for two years from 12 to 14 years of age, and the relationship to blood pressure and a family history of hypertension were investigated. The subjects who had high S-Mg and E-Mg levels at the first examination two years prior tended to show high levels after this follow-up. There were significant positive correlations between two intraindividual values of S-Mg and E-Mg. A similar tendency was found for blood pressure. Tracking phenomena were observed with these measures. The subjects who had high E-Mg levels at the first examination showed no blood pressure elevation during the two-year period. The subjects with a family history of hypertension [FH(+)] showed a higher degree of blood pressure rise during two years than those with no family history [FH(-)], with a significant difference in systolic blood pressure at the age of 14. E-Mg tended to be lower in the FH(+) group than in the FH(-) group with a significant difference in 14-year-old girls. These results suggest that a hereditary predisposition to hypertension is related to magnesium metabolism and that intracellular magnesium deficiency may influence blood pressure elevation in the FH(+) children.
Background:
Medicine education in Japan was introduced to junior high schools in 2012. However, the effectiveness of existing education programs is limited. In order to develop more effective programs for high school students, the present study investigated the variables that directly influence medicine use behavior and the magnitude of their influence, using a Bayesian network analysis.
Methods:
A national cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2017. Eighty-three public high schools across Japan were randomly selected, and questionnaires were administered to 15–16 years old 10th grade students. The number of valid responses was 17,437 (effective response rate was 98.46%). Responses were analyzed to measure students’ behavior toward, attitudes regarding, and knowledge of medicines, and awareness of their prior medicine education.
Results:
Students’ “attitude score” and “awareness of a class” directly influenced their “behavior score.” The “score on attitude,” which had a large influence on “score on behavior,” was directly influenced by “score on knowledge of proper use” and “awareness of class.”
Conclusion:
The present study argues that acquiring knowledge of appropriate medicine use leads to the acquisition of favorable attitudes, which may result in behavioral change. Therefore, for medicine education, it is expected that incorporating content related to knowledge acquisition for changing attitudes will be important for promoting behavioral change.
Education for medications was integrated into the Japanese junior high school health and physical education (HPE) guidelines in 2012, in tandem with revisions to the Course of Study. To assess knowledge and awareness of the proper use of medications among students who completed courses pertaining to them, a questionnaire survey was administered at 38 high schools in Gifu Prefecture. The questionnaire's recovery and effective response rates were both 99.7% (1,403/1,407 and 1,399/1,403, respectively). Further, 86.6% of respondents sought advice from their parents or grandparents when using medicines, with 85.4% responding "No" to a question on whether they had ever purchased medicine based on their own self-judgment. A total of 21.4% of respondents had received medicine from friends, and 21.3% had given medicine away. Responding to a question on whether they were aware of the class content regarding medicines, 31.0% of the students answered "Yes," 48.0% "I don't know," and 19.5% "No." Many of these students who were aware of the class content regarding medicines, however, were found to have never received medicine from nor given it to friends, suggesting the importance of medication-related lessons. The results of this survey clarified the current state of knowledge and awareness regarding the correct use of medicines among students who have taken the junior high school HPE classes on medicines introduced in 2012. In future, further development of both the classes and the instructions are required, to accomplish the purpose given in the Course of Study.
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