Are families with adolescents and young adults with cerebral palsy the same as other families?

This study compared adolescents with cerebral palsy (CP) and their families to adolescents without physical disabilities and their families as the child enters and leaves adolescence (age ranges 13 to 15 years and 19 to 23 years). Families of 90 individuals with CP (42 females, 48 males) and 75 individuals without physical disabilities (34 females, 41 males) participated. They completed the Family Assessment Device, Life Situation Survey, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, and Future Questionnaire. There were few differences in family functioning, life satisfaction, or perceived social support between the groups. Expectations of young adults with CP and parents of both adolescents and young adults regarding future independence and success were lower than the expectations of the control group. While the group results emphasize similarities between families during the two stages of adolescence, individual families and individual family members report specific challenges.

Distance education and caregiver support groups: comparison of traditional and telephone groups.

OBJECTIVE: To implement and evaluate the impact of telephone caregiver groups, compared with traditional face-to-face, on-site caregiver groups. DESIGN: Quasi-experimental design comparing the two group types across time. SETTING: An urban tertiary rehabilitation hospital with a brain injury program servicing a vast geographical area. PARTICIPANTS: Caregivers of an adult person with a brain injury participated in either one of the 10 telephone groups (TGs) (N = 52 caregivers who completed a full set of research forms) or one of the 10 on-site groups (OGs) (N = 39 caregivers who completed a full set of research forms). The combined total from both groups was 91. INTERVENTION: Caregivers who lived within 40 km of the facility were placed in one of the OGs, and all others were placed in one of the TGs. Both types of groups met weekly for 9 to 10 weeks and were led by either social work or psychology professionals. The TGs met using teleconference technology. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Profile of Moods States (POMS), Caregiver Burden Inventory (CBI), and the McMaster Model Family Assessment Devise (FAD), were administered 2 months before the first day of group, on the first day of group, on the last day of group, and 6 months after group. On the last day of group, a participant satisfaction survey was administered. RESULTS: There were similar amounts of improvements for the outcomes from OGs and TGs. Rural caregivers had fewer difficulties on all measures at all measurement intervals. In both types of group, participants showed a statistically significant improvement in POMS scores and a trend toward improvement in FAD and CBI results. Participants of both group types rated their experience highly, although rural caregivers were somewhat more satisfied. CONCLUSIONS: Telephone groups offer a method of providing support and education to rural caregivers that is as effective as traditional in-person OGs.

Early predictors of functional independence 2 years after spinal cord injury.

OBJECTIVE: To determine: (1) how well factors measured at admission to an acute care facility predict functional independence measure (FIM) scores, use of personal care assistance, and wheelchair ownership 2 years after traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI); (2) the extent that factors measured during inpatient stay add to these predictions; and (3) if FIM scores differ through use of assistance and wheelchair ownership 2 years after SCI. DESIGN: Prospective, longitudinal. SETTING: Tertiary care acute, rehabilitation hospitals and home settings. PATIENTS: One hundred sixty SCI admissions. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: FIM, use of personal care assistance (yes/no), and wheelchair ownership (manual/electric/none) 2 years after SCI. RESULTS: Year 2 FIM scores were highly correlated (> or = .68) to the ASIA admission and discharge light touch, pin prick, and motor scores. Admission neurological status and age accounted for 65% of year 2 FIM score variance. Adding hospital events and the discharge ASIA motor score increased prediction to 76% of the variance. A separate regression model using only year 2 neurological scores and age accounted for 73% of the total FIM variance. Discriminant function analysis indicated 86% correct classification regarding use of personal care assistance and 88% correct classification of wheelchair ownership. Using a separate cross-validation sample, overall classification accuracy for assistance was 80% and wheelchair ownership 67%. FIM scores were significantly lower in assistance users (78 +/- 24) than nonusers (120 +/- 8) and were significantly different between wheelchair ownership groups: manual (103 +/- 21), electric (61 +/- 15), and none (125 +/- 2). CONCLUSIONS: Late disability can be predicted using early impairment measures. The FIM prediction from variables measured during the early treatment phase was as good as prediction based on concurrent measures.

Rehabilitation learning needs: patient and family perceptions.

Understanding consumer needs for information provides the foundation for empowering patients and families to assume more responsibility for their own care both in hospital and after discharge. Self administered questionnaires identified adult rehabilitation learning needs from the perspectives of patients and their families both during and following hospitalization. The greatest needs for both groups in both time periods were for information about medical, psychosocial and community integration topics. During the in-patient phase, families identified high needs for information which suggests that they should be targeted for educational activities along with patients. Surveys repeated 6 weeks following discharge indicated that information needs were lower but continued to exist.

Province-based study of neurologic disability of children weighing 500 through 1249 grams at birth in relation to neonatal cerebral ultrasound findings.

BACKGROUND: Adverse neurodevelopmental outcome in premature infants is more common in the presence of certain ultrasonographically detectable intracranial lesions. Present nomenclature and classifications of parenchymal changes in preterm infants of varying gestations have led to some confusion. Descriptive definitions may be clinically useful. Regionalized perinatal and neonatal care enables population-based studies of these lesions and subsequent outcomes. METHODS: Two- to 3-year outcomes of neonates weighing 500 through 1249 g born in Alberta to Alberta residents during 1987 through 1990 were reviewed in relation to neonatal cerebral ultrasound lesions. Odds ratios and confidence limits for disability were calculated. RESULTS: Of 960 live births in this weight group, 669 (70%) survived to 1 year adjusted age; 646 (96.6%) were assessed at follow-up, and 80 (12.4%) of these were disabled: cerebral palsy, 8.7%; vision loss, 2.9%; hearing loss, 1.3%; epilepsy, 0.6%; mental retardation, 4.8%; more than one disability per child, 3.6%; and projected dependent disability, 1.4%. Lesions considered to be predictive of disability on ultrasound (excluding germinal layer hemorrhage) were found in 79 (11.8%), parenchymal lesions in 63 (9.4%) of 1-year survivors: intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) (n = 59), persistent or transient cerebral ventriculomegaly (n = 50), persistent or transient intraparenchymal periventricular echodensity (n = 29), and cystic periventricular leukomalacia (n = 7). All lesions except isolated IVH were associated with adverse outcome; 37% of disabled children, 61% of multiply disabled children, and all children projected to become dependently disabled had parenchymal lesions with or without IVH. Triple lesions of IVH, cerebral ventriculomegaly, and intraparenchymal periventricular echodensity gave an odds ratio for disability of 50. Transient lesions had significant risk. CONCLUSIONS: This province-based study provides a descriptive scheme of serial neonatal cerebral ultrasound lesions and outcome considered useful for clinicians caring for newborns of lowest gestational ages. The overall incidence of parenchymal lesions was lower than frequently reported. Combinations of lesions were linked to increased incidence, complexity, and severity of childhood disability.

[Study of the activation mechanism of EcoRII restriction endonuclease using synthetic DNA duplexes]. / Izuchenie mekhanizma aktivatsii éndonukleazy restriktsii EcoRII s pomoshch'iu sinteticheskikh DNK dupleksov.

Efficiency of the cleavage of DNA duplexes with one recognition site by EcoRII restriction endonuclease decreases with the increase in substrate length. DNA duplexes more than 215 base pairs long are practically not cleaved by this enzyme. It has been found that in the presence of substrates 11-14 base pairs long acceleration of hydrolysis of extended single-site substrates by EcoRII enzyme is observed. The level of hydrolysis stimulation is dependent on the length and concentration of the second substrate. A model system for the study of the molecular and kinetic mechanism of EcoRII endonuclease stimulation has been proposed, including a 30-membered single-site substrate and DNA duplexes, modified at heterocyclic bases and internucleotide phosphate groups in the recognition site, as activators. The modified DNA duplexes can activate hydrolysis of the 30-membered substrate and phage T3 DNA. Their influence on the cleavage of extended substrates is dependent on the type of modification and its localization in the recognition site. It has been demonstrated that EcoRII endonuclease carries out cooperative interaction with two recognition sites in DNA.

Population-based study of the incidence, complexity, and severity of neurologic disability among survivors weighing 500 through 1250 grams at birth: a comparison of two birth cohorts.

Mortality and incidence, complexity, and severity of early childhood neurodevelopmental disability are reported for two cohorts of preterm infants of 500 through 1250 g birth weight. Comparing 1978-1979 (cohort 1) and 1988-1989 (cohort 2), 1-year survival improved from 82 (36%) of 226 to 197 (67%) of 291. Cohort 1 survivors were heavier and more mature than cohort 2 survivors (1047 g vs 930 g, 29.6 vs 27.3 weeks). Parental demographic variables were similar. The incidence of specific disabilities with greater than 97% follow-up to 1.5 years adjusted age did not change: cerebral palsy, 14 (17%) vs 20 (10%); vision loss, 5 (6%) vs 9 (5%); mental retardation, 9 (11%) vs 13 (7%); hearing loss, 3 (4%) vs 7 (4%); and convulsive disorders, 2 (2%) vs 3 (2%). The overall number of disabled children (17 [21%] vs 30 [15%]), complexity of disability (> or = 2 disabilities per child: 11 [13%] vs 10 [5%]), and severity of disability (projected dependency: 6 [7%] vs 10 [5%]) did not differ between cohorts 1 and 2. The cerebral palsy prevalence, based on neonatal survival, dropped from 157 per 1000 to 93 per 1000. Analysis by birth weight-specific categories in 250-g increments did not alter results, but disability rates were highest for those of lowest weight. In contrast to other reports this population-based North American study from a well-developed perinatal regional program reports no increase in incidence, complexity, or severity of disability in preterm infants weighing 500 through 1250 g at birth.

Auditory brain-stem responses in neonates receiving extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.

Auditory brain-stem responses from 25 neonates treated with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation were compared with those of 11 control subjects. Results revealed no statistically significant differences for recorded responses, either between ears or between groups. We conclude that infants who receive extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, with or without carotid artery repair, are not at greater risk for auditory brain-stem dysfunction than similar infants who do not receive extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.