[Health status of delinquent male youths]

Objective. To assess the health status of delinquent male youths at the time of their admission to a juvenile correctional center.Design. Cross-sectional descriptive study over a 6-year period (1995-2000). Setting. Health primary care. Juvenile correctional center in Zaragoza, Spain. Participants. Two hundred forty male adolescents were admitted during the study period. Mean age was 15 years (SD, 1.3) (range, 13-17 years). Measurements and main results. Health status via medical history and physical examination was assessed according to standard protocols and individualized complementary laboratory examinations were performed. Most frequent health problems were smoking habit (97.1%), drug/alcohol abuse (54.1%), odontologic (40%), psychopathologic disorders (17.1%), incomplete immunization status (16.6%), growth and nutritional disorders (14.5%) growth delay (5.8%), malnutrition (3.3%), overweight (2.1%), obesity (3.3%) , infectious diseases associated with intravenous drug use and/or risk sexual behaviors (10.4%) hepatitis C (4.6%), hepatitis B (2.9%), AIDS (2.1%), syphilis (0.8%) , dermatological (10%), opthalmological (7.5%), and respiratory (5%). Less prevalent health problems were orthopedic (3.3%), anemia (3.3%), otic (2.5%), cardiovascular (2.5%), and intestinal parasitism (1.6%). Conclusions. Early intervention during the stay into juvenile correctional center regarding their physical health and especially their mental health, from the sanitary and educative viewpoint, presents a unique opportunity to solve the basic health needs of these high-risk adolescents.