Stress barometer at diagnoses in children with school non-attendance

School non-attendance is a major social problem in Japan. Many children stop attending school for a variety of reasons. The authors previously reported stress barometer values for healthy Japanese children. In this study, the authors examined the stress barometer values of children with school non-attendance.

The authors measured stress barometer values, that is, urinary 17-hydroxycorticosteroids (17-OHCS) and 17-ketosteroid sulfates (17-KS-S) in 65 children (40 girls and 25 boys; 7-15 years of age) with school non-attendance, except for pervasive developmental disorder and mental retardation, who attended the outpatient department of Dokkyo University School of Medicine Hospital, Tochigi, Japan, during the past 4 years.

A total of 24 (36.9%) of the 65 children had urinary 17-OHCS values above 2SD, and 14 (21.5%) had urinary 17-OHCS below 2SD. In total, 10 (15.4%) children had urinary 17-KS-S values above 2SD, and four (6.2%) had urinary 17-KS-S below 2SD. Five (7.7%) children had urinary 17-KS-S/17-OHCS values above 2SD, and 10 (15.4%) had urinary 17-KS-S/17-OHCS below 2SD.

The stress barometer values appear to be clinically useful for evaluating objectively whether children with school non-attendance have emotional stress.