Prenosological Health Assessment in Gifted Adolescents Affected by Educational Process Factors

Abstract

Introduction: In solving the problem of preserving and strengthening health of gifted schoolchildren representing the country’s main intellectual potential, the main component is the observance of hygienic requirements for conditions and organization of learning activities in educational establishments for gifted children and adolescents. The purpose of the study was to conduct a prenosological assessment of the health status of gifted adolescents influenced by various educational process factors. Materials and methods: Using hardware and software systems, we assessed the level of physical development, functional status of the central nervous, respiratory, and cardiovascular systems in 300 gifted adolescents in grades 9–11 (15–17 years of age). Results: We established that under the conditions of a boarding school (lyceum), gifted schoolchildren were exposed to such health risk factors as increased study loads, their irrational distribution during the school day and week, and a high level of tension in the educational process (class 3.1). It was proved that the educational process factors affected the functioning of the basic systems of the body of gifted schoolchildren. High study loads of a pronounced degree of tension ensured an improvement of the functional status of the central nervous system of gifted school-age adolescents by stabilizing the nervous reaction, increasing the functional level of the nervous system and the ability of the central nervous system to form the body’s adaptive system when adapting to the factors of the educational process in the in the dynamics of learning. Maintaining a high level of functioning of the central nervous system in gifted school-age adolescents was ensured by the multiparameter interaction of the main body systems, which was characterized by an increase in the functional parameters of the respiratory system, a change in vegetative regulation, and a decrease in the level of biological adaptation. Conclusions: Our findings determine the need for systematic screening of gifted children in educational institutions to identify the level of their prenosological health in order to maintain and increase the adaptive potential of gifted adolescents.