Dynamics of incidence of mental and behavior disorders in children of Ukraine: a 25-years’ observation experience.

Disorders of the psyche and behavior among children is an urgent problem of modern pediatric science and medical practice. The high prevalence of this pathology may be a result of the unfavorable psychological state of society, aggressive effects of the unfiltered information and negative influence of the environment (including radiatioactive factors) on the mind and body of the child. We have studied a 25-years’ trends in morbidity of mental illneses and behavior disorders among children of Ukraine in order to determine the impact of environmental factors (in particular - radioactivity after Chernobyl disaster in 1986) on their development. We have performed an analysis of the incidence and prevalence of psychiatric and behavioral disorders (PBD) among  children from different regions of Ukraine, including radioactive regions, contaminated after Chernobyl disaster. We used methods of statistical evaluation and epidemiological analysis of statistical data about the mental health of children of the country, aquired from the Ministry of Health of Ukraine. Over the past 25 years, we have observed trend of  reducing the incidence of PBD among children of Ukraine to 3.77 cases per 1,000 children (p<0.01) with prevalence of this pathology among children from large industrial and agricultural regions of the country. We have connected this trend with significant toxic influence of environmental factors on the child's organism. The incidence of PBD in the last 25 years among children from the regions of the country contaminated by the Chernobyl accident in 1986  (especially in Chernihiv and Zhytomyr regions) has exceeded the national incidence rates of PBD and its incidence among children from regions without territories of radiological control. In early 1990s the incidence of mental and behavioral disorders was high among children affected by Chornobyl accident. But over the last 25 years the incidence of PBD has become lower and now its level is even lower than among children who permanently lived in areas contaminated by radiation after the Chernobyl accident and the national incidence rate of PBD among children. The results of our 25-years’ follow-up of PBD morbidity among Ukrainian children have shown that children with prolonged exposure to ecotoxic factors, including radiation, have higher levels of prevalence and incidence of mental and behavioral disorders compared with other children. All this testify that there is a need of a proper correction programs and special attention to this cohort of children

ПЕДІАТРИЧНА ОСВІТА УКРАЇНИ У ХХІ СТОРІЧЧІ: СУЧАСНІ ВИКЛИКИ ТА ПРОБЛЕМИ МАЙБУТНЬОГО

The aim of the work – to evaluate the state of development of pediatric education in Ukraine in the beginning of the 21st century, staffing of the branch in the field of pediatrics and to develop a plan of measures to overcome the crisis phenomena in pediatric health care. The main body. The article presents data on the development of pediatric education in the early 21st century after the restoration of the educational-scientific specialty “Pediatrics” in 2017. The development of up-to-date standards for the training of pediatric doctors, based on the acquisition of future master’s degrees in pediatrics, general and professional competencies and necessary practical skills is highlighted. The current problems in the provision of pediatric health care facilities are emphasized. Conclusion. A list of measures at the sectoral and national level has been developed to restore the necessary training рediatricians for childrenʼs health care of the country and to ensure the proper methodological provision of the educational process, which may cause difficulties in providing children with quality medical care in the future.Мета роботи – оцінити стан розвитку педіатричної освіти в Україні на початку ХХІ сторіччя, кадрове забезпечення галузі за спеціальністю «Педіатрія» та розробити план заходів щодо подолання кризових явищ у педіатричній охороні здоровʼя. Основна частина. У статті наведено дані щодо розвитку педіатричної освіти на початку ХХІ сторіччя після відновлення освітньо-наукової спеціальності «Педіатрія» у 2017 р. Висвітлено розробку сучасних стандартів підготовки дитячих лікарів, що базуються на набутті майбутніми магістрами педіатрії загальних та фахових компетенцій і необхідних практичних навичок. Наголошено на теперішніх проблемах у кадровому забезпеченні педіатричних закладів охорони здоровʼя, що може викликати складнощі у забезпеченні дітей якісною медичною допомогою у майбутньому. Висновок. Розроблений перелік заходів на галузевому та загальнодержавному рівні щодо відновлення необхідних для країни обсягів підготовки дитячих лікарів та забезпечення належного методичного забезпечення навчального процесу

Bronchial Asthma in Children of Ukraine: Medical and Environmental Parallels of Morbidity and Prevalence

Bronchial asthma is one of the most common non-infectious diseases of children worldwide. More than half of such clinical cases may lead to functional disability and significantly affects the quality of life of a sick child. The aim of the study was to research trends in the incidence and prevalence of bronchial asthma among children in different regions of Ukraine over the past 25 years and assess the effect of air pollutant emissions from stationary sources in the region of children residence on the incidence and prevalence of bronchial asthma among them. According to the Center for Medical Statistics of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, the incidence of bronchial asthma among children aged 0-17 years was 4513 0.59 of new cases per 1000 population in 2017. Prevalence of this disease was 37246 cases (4.91 per 1000 population). The majority of newly diagnosed bronchial asthma cases was observed in children aged 7-14 years – 2439 or 54.0% of the total, which is in line with global trends. The highest incidence and prevalence in all three age groups was observed among children of Kyiv and Kharkiv, Zaporizhia, Vinnitsa, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk regions. We have discovered a direct and close connection (ρ=0.741) between the reduction of air pollutant emissions from stationary sources and decreasing of the prevalence of bronchial asthma among children in recent years. Over the past 25 years in Ukraine there has been 69.3% increase in prevalence and 22.9% increase in incidence of bronchial asthma among children. Predominance of detecting this pathology was in the group of children from large industrial and agro-industrial regions of the country with significant volumes of atmospheric pollutants from stationary sources of pollution

Dynamics of the Incidence Rate of Pneumonia in Children in Ukraine Over the Past 20 Years

Pneumonia ranks third in the structure of hospital mortality in infants after perinatal pathology and congenital malformations in Ukraine. Over the past 20 years in Ukraine, there has been a 33,7% increase in the incidence of pneumonia in children (p˂0.01), with the predominant detection of this pathology in children from regions of the country who have problematic issues in the proper provision of pediatric services. The highest incidence of pneumonia in all age groups was observed in children of Ivano-Frankivsk, Rivne, Kyiv and Vinnitsa regions. Thanks to the progressive development of domestic pediatrics and the introduction of modern medical and diagnostic technologies, in particular, vaccine prophylaxis, over the past 20 years, the death rate of children from acute infections of the upper respiratory tract, pneumonia and influenza has decreased by almost 5 times. Changes in recent years in the incidence of pneumonia in children correspond to the dynamics of the spread of influenza and acute respiratory viral infection, especially during the epidemics 2009-2010 and 2015-2016. Assessing the dynamics of this indicator in subsequent periods is extremely important in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, which continues

Allergic and Non-allergic Skin Diseases in Children of Ukraine: A Retrospective Study of the Prevalence and Incidence Over the Past 24 Years

Bacterial, allergic, parasitic and fungal skin lesions are much more common among children than among adult patients. The aim of this study was to analyze data on the prevalence and incidence of diseases of skin and subcutaneous tissue with allergic and non-allergic origin among children of Ukraine in period from 1994 to 2017. Our main purpose was to determine the possible impact of different adverse environmental factors on children`s  growth, including radiation, connected with the Chernobyl disaster in 1986. Over the past 24 years Ukraine has witnessed a 10.3% increase in prevalence of diseases of skin and subcutaneous tissue among children and 8.6% raise of incidence rate with a predominance of detection of this pathology in children affected by the Chernobyl accident and children from areas of radiological control. We have found a direct influence of moderate strength on the connection between population-weighted effective dose of total human exposure (in millizieverts) in different regions of the country in the period of 1997-2011 and the incidence and prevalence of skin diseases among children aged 0-14 years, including 2011 (p<0.05).This fact may indicate the impact of this disaster on the occurrence and pathogenesis of skin diseases and its consequences among children. During the same period, due to the influence of a number of environmental factors, there was a significant transformation in the structure of skin diseases in children. We have witnessed double increasing of the proportion of allergic lesions of the skin and its elements. The prevalence of diseases of the skin and its elements in general has reached 28.7%  against the corresponding reduction of skin infections

Allergic March in Children of Ukraine

Allergic diseases, which have a certain stage in their development from food allergy to bronchial asthma / allergic rhinitis, are much more common in children than in adults. The aim of this study was to analyze data on the prevalence and incidence of atopic dermatitis, bronchial asthma and allergic rhinitis as components of the allergic march, in children of Ukraine from 1994 to 2017 to determine the possible impact of adverse environmental factors on their development. During the same period, due to the influence of a number of factors, in particular environmental, there were significant changes in the structure of allergic diseases making up the stages of the allergic march due to an increase in the proportion of allergic rhinitis with the reduced one of asthma and atopic dermatitis. Within 24 years, the incidence of atopic dermatitis in children aged 0-6 years including, increased by 27.6%, in adolescents - by 40.5% and significantly decreased by 39.5% in children aged 7-14 years including. Most cases of allergic rhinitis and bronchial asthma were observed in schoolchildren (47.6 and 54.0%, respectively) with a slight decrease compared to 1994. In general, allergic diseases in recent years have become more common in children from 0 to 6 years and their detection has decreased in school-age children and adolescents. Over the past 24 years, in children of Ukraine a steady increase in the incidence and prevalence of allergic diseases that form an allergic march has been noted: the prevalence of bronchial asthma has increased by 69.3% and the incidence has increased by 22.9%; the prevalence of atopic dermatitis increased by 43.9% and the incidence increased by 8.3%; the prevalence of allergic rhinitis increased by 488.3% and the incidence of allergic rhinitis increased by 380.3%, with a predominance of detection of this pathology in children from regions with developed infrastructure and industry, where there are significant emissions of pollutants into the atmosphere, that have a direct moderate effect on the increase in the prevalence of bronchial asthma, the incidence and prevalence of allergic rhinitis in children