Updates in Health Care of Adolescents: A Simple Review Article

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify what topics adolescents would like to have discussed or addressed when visiting family physicians and to assess the extent to which such discussion is taking place. The main health issues in adolescents are; injuries as intentional injuries are the leading cause of death and disability among adolescents. Violence, mental health, alcohol and drug use, tobacco use, HIV/AIDS, other infectious diseases and early pregnancy and childbirth. There seems to be a need for more comprehensive health education in schools and for health professionals, particularly general practitioners, to opportunistically address these problems in their adolescent patients. Also parents should take their teens to their GP for treatment for these problems, hoped their doctor would be comfortable with such treatment, and wanted their doctor to discuss these problems with their teens.