Stress barometer at diagnoses in children with school non-attendance.
BACKGROUND
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.


METHODS
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.


RESULTS
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.


CONCLUSIONS
The stress barometer values appear to be clinically useful for evaluating objectively whether children with school non-attendance have emotional stress.
Kano
Kenichi
K
Department of Pediatrics, Dokkyo Medical University School of Medicine, Tochigi, Japan. k-kano@dokkyomed.ac.jp
Arisaka
Osamu
O
D015065:17-Hydroxycorticosteroids / Q000652:urine*; D015068:17-Ketosteroids / Q000652:urine*; D000041:Absenteeism; D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology / Q000652:urine; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000652:urine*
D015065:17-Hydroxycorticosteroids; D015068:17-Ketosteroids