Cultural issues in the psychiatric assessment of Xhosa children and adolescents

Traditional healers living in Guguletu, Cape Town, were interviewed about their practices in order to ascertain whether or not there are cultural/indigenous expressions of psychological distress or dysfunction in black children and adolescents. Besides bedwetting, fits and school anxiety, five other 'syndrOInes' were described: ukupharnbana, ukuphaphazela, arnafufunyane, urnoya and ukuthwasa. Although detailed case studies are required to establish the internal validity and exact nature of these 'syndromes', it is clear that any systematic study of psychiatric disorders in Xhosa children and adolescents needs to take them into account

A comparative study of four novel sleep apnoea episode prediction systems

The prediction of sleep apnoea and hypopnoea episodes could allow treatment to be applied before the event be-comes detrimental to the patients sleep, and for a more spe-cific form of treatment. It is proposed that features extracted from breaths preceding an apnoea and hypopnoea could be used in neural networks for the prediction of these events. Four different predictive systems were created, processing the nasal airflow signal using epoching, the inspiratory peak and expiratory trough values, principal component analysis (PCA) and empirical mode decomposition (EMD). The neu-ral networks were validated with naïve data from six over-night polysomnographic records, resulting in 83.50% sensi-tivity and 90.50% specificity. Reliable prediction of apnoea and hypopnoea is possible using the epoched flow and EMD of breaths preceding the event

Risk-taking behaviour of Cape Peninsula high-school students. Part I. Introduction and methods

In this study, risk-taking behaviour of Cape Peninsula high-school students was investigated. Suicidal behaviour, cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, drug use, road-related behaviour, violent behaviour and sexual behaviour were included. This article, the first in a series, describes the rationale and methodology of the project. Sixteen schools were selected so as to yield a representative sample of schools in the three major education departments in the Cape Peninsula (administered by the Department of Education and Training and the Houses of Assembly and Representatives). The final sample size was 7 340 school students. A self-administered questionnaire was completed in a normal school period. Estimates for each education department were weighted to produce an overall estimate. The results are presented by standard and home language(s), and gender. Limitations of the study include its cross-sectional nature; the possibility of under- and over-reporting; the exclusion of important groups of adolescents such as absentees and dropouts, and those attending specialised and private schools; and not being able to present the results separately for each education department

Risk-taking behaviour of Cape Peninsula high-school students. Part II. Suicidal behaviour

The prevalence of a wide range of risk-taking behaviour among high-school students in the Cape Peninsula, South Africa, was investigated. In this article, the results for suicidal behaviour are presented. Cluster sampling techniques produced a sample of 7 340 students from 16 schools in the three major education departments. A self-administered questionnaire was completed in a normal school period. Estimates for each education department were weighted to produce an overall estimate. During the previous 12 months, 19% of students had seriously thought about harming themselves in a way that might result in their death, 12,4% had told someone that they intended to put an end to their life, and 7,8% had actually tried to put an end to their life. There were different trends according to gender, standard and language(s) spoken at home. Of those who had made a suicide attempt during the previous 12 months, 85,7% indicated that they had seriously thought about doing so, while 57,7% had told someone that they intended putting an end to their life. There is in many cases no continuity from suicidal ideation to communicating suicidal intent to an actual attempt

Risk-taking behaviour of Cape Peninsula high-school students. Part IV. Alcohol use

The prevalence of a wide range of risk-taking behaviour among high-school students in the Cape Peninsula, South Africa, was investigated. In this article, the results for alcohol use are presented. Cluster sampling techniques produced a sample of 7 340 students from 16 schools in the three major education departments. A self-administered questionnaire was completed in a normal school period. Estimates for each education department were weighted to produce an overall estimate. Of the sample, 53,2% reported ever using alcohol; 26,2% had used it recently and 15,4% reported episodes of binge drinking in the previous 14 days. Drinking patterns varied according to school standard, home language, and gender. Males reported higher rates of alcohol use and for both genders rates increased with age. Overall, the prevalence of drinking was highest among adolescents whose home language was English. The proportion of Xhosa-speaking females who drank was very low.The prevalence of binge drinking in particular was identified as being of concern. The findings indicate a need for preventive action and further local research in this area

Risk-taking behaviour of Cape Peninsula high-school students. Part III. Cigarette smoking

The prevalence of a wide range of risk-taking behaviour among high-school students in the Cape Peninsula, South Africa, was investigated. In this article, the results for cigarette smoking are presented. Cluster sam.pling techniques produced a sample of 7 340 students from 16 schools in the three major education departments. A selfadministered questionnaire was completed in a normal school period. Estimates for each education department were weighted to produce an overall estimate. Of the students 18,1% indicated that they smoked at least 1 cigarette per day. Of these, 66,9% had tried to stop. Of those who did not smoke at least 1 cigarette per day, 41,2% had smoked previously and 3,6% intended to start smoking. There were different trends according to gender, standard, and language(s) spoken at home. Of note was the small percentage of Xhosa speaking females who smoked. There is an urgent need for smoking prevention programmes in schools

Risk-taking behaviour of Cape Peninsula high-school students. Part VII. Violent behaviour

The prevalence of a wide range of risk-taking behaviour among high-school students in the Cape Peninsula, South Africa, was investigated. In this article, the results for violent behaviour are presented. Cluster sampling techniques produced a sample of 7 340 students from 16 schools in three major education departments. A self-administered questionnaire was completed in a normal school period. Estmates for each education department were weighted to produce an overall estimate. Of the total sample, 12,7%, 9,6% and 13,8% reported that they had been physically injured by another person at school, at home and in other settings, respectively; 11,0% had injured another person during the previous year; 5% had committed an act of vandalism and 9,8% of males and 1,3% of females had carried knives at school. Other trends according to gender, school standard, and home language were identified. Males were more likely to be the perpetrators and victims of violent behaviour; for both genders the extent of victimisation decreased with increasing standard; and fewer Xhosa-speaking students than students in other language groups perpetrated incidents of violent behaviour. The potential for intervention programmes is assessed in a context where much violence is detertnined by sociopolitical factors

Risk-taking behaviour of Cape Peninsula high-school students. Part V. Drug use

The prevalence of a wide range of risk-taking behaviour among high-school students in the Cape Peninsula, South Africa, was investigated. In this article, the results for drug use are presented. Cluster sampling techniques produced a sample of 7 340 students from 16 schools in the three major education departments. A self-administered questionnaire was completed in a normal school period. Estimates for each education departnlent were weighted to produce an overall estimate. Cannabis was the illicit drug most widely used; 7,5% had smoked cannabis, and 2,4% had done so in the previous 7 days. A small subgroup (1,6%) of students had smoked cannabis and methaqualone (Mandrax) together. Reported lifetime use of injectable drugs was 0,5%, and 10,9% had sniffed solvents, 2,6% having done so in the previous 7 days. There were different trends according to gender, standard, and language(s) spoken at home. Of particular note was the Small proportion of Xhosa-speaking females who were involved with drug use. The results suggest that the majority of drug use among school students is experimental. A small number of adolescents abuse drugs and are at risk for its associated problems; intervention is indicated for this group

Risk-taking behaviour of Cape Peninsula high-school students. Part VI. Road-related behaviour

The prevalence of a wide range of risk-taking behaviour among high-school students in the Cape Peninsula, South Africa, was investigated. In this article, the findings for road-related behaviour are presented. Cluster sampling techniques produced a sample of 7 340 students from 16 schools in the three major education departments. A self-administered questionnaire was completed in a normal school period. Estimates for each education department were weighted to produce an overall estimate. During the previous year, 8,5% of the students had been involved in a motor vehicle accident, and 7,4% had been injured in a pedestrian accident. Of those who had driven a vehicle, 63,2% reported driving without a licence; 16,1% drove an overcrowded vehicle; and 8% reported driving under the influence of alcohol or cannabis. Of those who had been on a motorcycle, 47,9% reported riding without a helmet. Despite the availability of seat belts, 37,3% had failed to wear one on the last occasion they were in the front seat of a vehicle. Variations according to gender, standard, and home language(s) were identified. The prevalence of risk behaviour was higher in males, who also showed a more pronounced increase in such behaviour with age. The need for accident prevention programmes remains urgent

Growth and persistence of 17 annual medic (Medicago spp.) accessions on clay soils in central Queensland

Seventeen accessions of annual medics were evaluated on clay soil sites at Emerald, Theodore, Biloela and Mundubbera, central Queensland. Successful medics could have a role in both permanent and ley pastures. However, these are marginal areas for medics with winter (June-August) rainfalls of 80-100 mm. The accessions were selected on the basis of results in southern Queensland, a more favoured area for medics. There were 9 accessions of Medicago truncatula (barrel medic), 4 of M. scutellata (snail medic), 2 of M. polymorpha (burr medic) and 1 each of M. aculeata (keg medic) and M. orbicularis (button medic). Lucerne (M. sativa) cv. Trifecta was sown at 3 sites. All sites except Theodore were irrigated in the year of establishment (1993). The medic seedlings at Theodore died in 1993 and the trial was resown in 1994. Measurements were made of seed set in the first year and whenever it occurred in later years, seedling density in most years and yield when there was adequate growth. Selected measurements were made of soil seed reserves. Measurements ceased in 1998