ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE: To explore the associations between current mental health symptoms and social disparities in university students. METHODS: We recruited participants from nine public universities in Brazil, from August to November 2022, using online advertisements and in-person lectures. All participants completed an online survey containing social (sex, race/color, gender identity, sexual orientation, and income) and mental health assessments. The Jeopardy index was composed of social variables. The index considered zero points for subjects with less oppressive experienced characteristics (men, White, cisgender, heterosexual, higher income) and one point for the opposite characteristics. We defined six clusters according to Jeopardy Index results: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 points, with the greatest number of points representing the most disadvantaged group. The mental health symptoms were assessed on two levels. First by the “DSM-5 Self-Rated Level 1 Cross-Cutting Symptom Measure – Adult,” and second by the “Patient Health Questionnaire-9,” and the “Generalized Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire-7.” Adjusted Odds Ratio (OR) analyses was performed for age and educational level. RESULTS: 748 participants were allocated into the six Jeopardy clusters: 0 (n = 46; 6.1%), 1 (n = 112; 15.0%), 2 (n = 163; 21.8%), 3 (n = 218; 29.1%), 4 (n = 171; 22.9%), and 5 (n = 38; 5.1%). It was observed a high prevalence of anxiety (42.5%) and depression (51.0%), however, the less privileged group (5) had a higher risk of having severe symptoms of anxiety (OR = 6.21; 1.51–25.58; p < 0.01) and depression (OR = 8.60; 2.15–34.43; p < 0.01), compared against the most privileged group. CONCLUSION: Although anxiety and depressive symptoms were highly prevalent for all participants, these disorders are not equally distributed in this population and the intersectionality between social factors plays an important role in contributing to these differences.

The aim of the study was to investigate the postural and load distribution symmetries in preschool children. The sample consisted of 67 preschool children with a median age of 54.00 ± 5.06 months. Postural parameters such as the horizontal alignment of the head, the acromion and Antero Superior Iliac Spines (ASIS), the angles between the acromial and ASIS, frontal, Q, knee and ankle and horizontal asymmetry of the scapula in relation to T3 were evaluated by photogrammetry. The baropodometry was used to identify the distribution of plantar pressure, while the medial arch of the foot was analyzed by photographic image. The median, standard deviation and the symmetry ratio were calculated for each parameter considered symmetry values greater than 90%. The Pearson’s or Spearman’s correlation were used between the parameters analyzed. There was asymmetric for postural and load distribution parameters for both genders and a null correlation between the symmetry of the surface and foot morphology and negative weak correlation significant between of the load foot and the front angle of the lower limb symmetries. The presence of asymmetries, postural and/or of load distribution, observed in early childhood suggest the importance of monitoring the postural and foot load parameters in the long term, preventing future postural and biomechanical alterations.

O objetivo do estudo foi investigar a simetria postural e de distribuição de carga em crianças pré-escolares. A amostra foi composta de 67 crianças pré-escolares. Parâmetros posturais como: os alinhamentos horizontais da cabeça, do acrômio e das Espinhas Ilíacas Antero Superiores (EIAS), os ângulos entre os acrômios e as EIAS, frontal, Q, do joelho e do tornozelo e a assimetria horizontal da escápula em relação à T3 foram avaliados por fotogrametria. Baropodometria foi utilizada para identificar a distribuição da pressão plantar, enquanto o arco medial do pé foi analisado por fotografia. A mediana, o desvio padrão e a razão de simetria foram calculadas para cada parâmetro, sendo considerado simetria valores superiores a 90%. Correlação foi realizada entre os parâmetros analisados. Houve distribuição assimétrica para os parâmetros posturais e de distribuição de carga e uma correlação fraca e significativa entre a simetria da superfície e morfologia podal e entre a simetria da carga podal e do ângulo frontal do membro inferior. A presença de assimetrias, postural e de distribuição de carga observadas na primeira infância sugerem a importância de se monitorar os parâmetros posturais e de carga podal a longo prazo, a fim de prevenir alterações posturais e biomecânicas futuras