Epidemiology and patient-reported measurement outcome of pelvic fractures in children and adolescents - A population-based cohort study from the Swedish fracture register.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Pediatric pelvic fractures are uncommon, representing 0.2-3% of total pediatric fractures. The long-term patient-reported outcome in the pediatric population has not been evaluated yet. The purpose of the study was to describe the epidemiology of pelvic and acetabular fractures in pediatric patients including long-term patient-reported outcomes. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The Swedish Fracture Register (SFR) was used to identify all patients aged 6-17 years at injury with a pelvic fracture between 2015 and 2021. All patients were invited to answer Patient-Reported measurement instruments in 2021. RESULTS: The study cohort consisted of 223 patients with a median age at fracture of 15 years and with 62 % boys. 201 sustained a pelvic and 22 acetabular fractures. Falls were the leading cause of fracture, followed by transport accidents. Most fractures (both pelvis and acetabulum) were type A (73 %), and 21 fractures (9 %) could not be classified according to AO. 85 % of fractures were treated non-surgically. All Type C fractures were treated surgically. Seven PROMIS® profile domains were completed by 31 % of the sample at a mean follow-up time of 3.5 years after pelvic/acetabular fracture. Most patients had "no concern" or "mild concern" but those who had surgery had an inferior t-score in most domains. CONCLUSION: Most fractures occurred in older individuals, with falls during sports activities being the most common cause. This raises important questions about prevention strategies. The PROMIS-Pain-Interference scale indicated that the younger the age at fracture, the more pain was reported at follow-up.

Temperature and magnetic field effects on the transport controlled charge state of a single quantum dot.

Individual InAs/GaAs quantum dots are studied by micro-photoluminescence. By varying the strength of an applied external magnetic field and/or the temperature, it is demonstrated that the charge state of a single quantum dot can be tuned. This tuning effect is shown to be related to the in-plane electron and hole transport, prior to capture into the quantum dot, since the photo-excited carriers are primarily generated in the barrier.

Overnight urinary growth hormone in normally growing prepubertal children: effect of urine volume. The one-year growth study.

Growth hormone excretion can easily be measured in the urine using ultrasensitive methods. The large day-to-day variation has, however, restricted its diagnostic usefulness. The present study aimed to evaluate the individual variation of GH in the urine (uGH) during normal prepubertal growth. Eighty-four prepubertal normally growing children were followed monthly for 13 months. During this period, 3,207 overnight urine samples were collected. The urine collection time was unrelated to the uGH concentration (p > 0.05), while there was a significant negative correlation between the uGH concentration and urine volume (the Spearman correlation coefficient of -0.33, p < 0.0001), while the calculated excretion of GH in the urine showed a positive correlation with the urine volume (r = 0.35; p < 0.0001). A reference chart, based on SD scores, was developed in order to avoid this volume dependency and to optimally normalize the skewed distribution of the uGH concentrations. The use of this model reduced the individual day-to-day variation of uGH from a coefficient of variation of 43 to 21%. Differences in mean cross-sectional urinary GH concentration was found between different months exceeding the expected methodological variation. This variation showed no seasonal pattern. Only 0.2% of triplicate values (three consecutive overnight uGH values) were all below -2 SD scores and 0.1% were above +2 SD scores. The mean uGH SD score for the boys was 0.01 (SD = 0.98), which was similar to that for the girls (-0.04; SD = 1.06). We found that uGH excretion can be estimated in a more robust way, using a SD score based reference chart that handles both the positive correlation between urinary GH and urine volume and the skewed distribution of urinary GH. This model reduced the day-to-day variability of uGH by half. Overestimation of GH in large urine volumes may be due to increased gradient between GH in urine and serum following increased urine volumes.

Self-esteem of young adults with chronic health conditions: appraising the effects of perceived impact.

The relationships between selected condition characteristics and self-esteem were investigated in a randomly drawn, community-based sample of 286 young adults with chronic illnesses and disabilities. Whether appraisals of the impact of the condition mediated relationships between condition characteristics and self-esteem, as measured by the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, was also measured. As a group, the youth in this sample reported positive self-esteem. When sociodemographic and condition-related variables were considered simultaneously, maternal education, unpredictability of symptoms, prognosis, sensory impairment, and the presence of a co-occurring learning disability were found to have direct effects on esteem. Perceived impact mediated the relationship between condition characteristics and self-esteem. The results are discussed in relation to the role of impact appraisal in determining the emotional well-being of young adults with chronic illnesses.

Mental health of young adults with chronic illness: the mediating effect of perceived impact.

Examined psychological symptomatology in a community-based sample of 286 young adults with chronic health conditions randomly drawn from the rolls of two state programs for Children with Special Health Care Needs. The Psychiatric Symptom Index was used to assess mental health. We investigated how selected condition characteristics (e.g., indices of severity, symptom predictability, prognosis, age of onset, and visibility of condition) increased risk of psychological symptoms. Analyses indicate that (a) this population is at high risk for psychological symptoms, (b) selected risk factors (i.e., prognosis, restricted activity days, presence of hearing and speech problems, and perceived unpredictability of symptoms) have significant effects on mental health status when other variables are taken into account, and (c) respondents' perceptions of the impact of the condition mediates associations between selected risk factors and mental health. Results are discussed in relation to preventive interventions for this population of young adults.

An abrasion test for composite resins.

An abrasive wear test for composite resins was proposed. A slurry of glass pearls and abrasive particles were used. The abrasive effect was examined for different particle sizes. Particle sizes were found which gave the same order of wear as found clinically for an amalgam, a composite resin, and unfilled resin.