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Sexual Medicine Reviews Jun 2024Adolescence is a crucial stage of physical and sexual maturation and development and a period in which understanding sexual and reproductive health (SRH) is important.... (Review)
Review
INTRODUCTION
Adolescence is a crucial stage of physical and sexual maturation and development and a period in which understanding sexual and reproductive health (SRH) is important. SRH interventions and toolkits provide a range of valuable resources and information to young people, educators, and members of the community on numerous topics, including contraception and puberty.
OBJECTIVES
The usefulness and reliability of these available toolkits have not been previously studied, thus limiting our understanding of their appropriateness and contents. Hence, this scoping review aimed to synthesize the available toolkits aimed at the SRH of adolescents and young adults to understand the contents, design, and information gaps.
METHODS
A systematic search was conducted of 6 medical databases and 12 gray literature sites. Sixteen toolkits published globally before May 2023 were included in our review.
RESULTS
The majority of toolkits (nā=ā12) contained information related to general SRH knowledge and contraception, whereas only 3 contained information on teenage pregnancy. We found that aiming the toolkits toward educators and health care workers was a favorable design over targeting adolescents and young adults directly and that vulnerable youth-including LGBTQI+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, asexual or allied, intersex, and additional identities) and youth from humanitarian settings-were not well represented.
CONCLUSION
We identified key gaps in the inclusion of information in a range of SRH topics, such as LGBTQI+ sexuality, teenage pregnancy, and safe abortion, in the currently available SRH toolkits and their lack of applicability in a global context. Furthermore, we provide recommendations for areas of improvement to encourage adolescents' agency in their SRH education.
Topics: Humans; Adolescent; Sexual Health; Reproductive Health; Young Adult; Female; Sex Education; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Pregnancy; Male; Pregnancy in Adolescence
PubMed: 38736215
DOI: 10.1093/sxmrev/qeae032 -
Environment International Nov 2023Personal care products (PCPs) contain many different compounds and are a source of exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), including phthalates and phenols....
BACKGROUND
Personal care products (PCPs) contain many different compounds and are a source of exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), including phthalates and phenols. Early-life exposure to EDCs commonly found in PCPs has been linked to earlier onset of puberty.
OBJECTIVE
To characterize the human and animal evidence on the association between puberty-related outcomes and exposure to PCPs and their chemical constituents and, if there is sufficient evidence, identify groups of chemicals and outcomes to support a systematic review for a class-based hazard or risk assessment.
METHODS
We followed the OHAT systematic review framework to characterize the human and animal evidence on the association between puberty-related health outcomes and exposure to PCPs and their chemical constituents.
RESULTS
Ninety-eight human and 299 animal studies that evaluated a total of 96 different chemicals were identified and mapped by key concepts including chemical class, data stream, and puberty-related health outcome. Among these studies, phthalates and phenols were the most well-studied chemical classes. Most of the phthalate and phenol studies examined secondary sex characteristics and changes in estradiol and testosterone levels. Studies evaluating PCP use and other chemical classes (e.g., parabens) had less data.
CONCLUSIONS
This systematic evidence map identified and mapped the published research evaluating the association between exposure to PCPs and their chemical constituents and puberty-related health outcomes. The resulting interactive visualization allows researchers to make evidence-based decisions on the available research by enabling them to search, sort, and filter the literature base of puberty-related studies by key concepts. This map can be used by researchers and regulators to prioritize and target future research and funding to reduce uncertainties and address data gaps. It also provides information to inform a class-based hazard or risk assessment on the association between phthalate and phenol exposures and puberty-related health outcomes.
Topics: Animals; Humans; Endocrine Disruptors; Environmental Exposure; Phenol; Phenols; Phthalic Acids; Sexual Maturation
PubMed: 37948866
DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2023.108307