A systematic review of high quality randomized controlled trials investigating motor skill programmes for children with developmental coordination disorder

Objective: To identify effective motor training interventions for children with developmental coordination disorder from research graded as high quality (using objective criteria) for the purpose of informing evidence-based clinical practice. Data sources: We followed the guidance for conducting systematic reviews issued by the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination. Six OvidSP electronic databases (AMED, All EBM reviews (including Cochrane), Embase, Ovid MEDLINE, PsychARTICLES Full Text, PsycINFO) were searched systematically. We aimed to retain only randomized control trials and systematic reviews of randomized control trials, defined as the highest level of evidence by the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine. We searched reference lists of retained articles to identify further appropriate articles. Review methods: Two reviewers critically appraised and categorized articles by effect size (including confidence intervals), inclusion of power calculations and quality using the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) scale. Only studies scoring seven or more on the PEDro scale (classed by the PEDro as high reliability) were retained. Results: No systematic reviews met our criteria for inclusion from 846 articles yielded by the systematic search. Nine randomized control trials investigating 15 interventions to improve motor skills met our inclusion criteria for 'high quality'. Nevertheless, not all included studies were adequately powered for determining an effect. Conclusion: Large effect sizes associated with 95 % confidence intervals suggest that 'Neuromotor Task Training', 'Task-oriented Motor Training' and 'Motor Imagery + Task Practice Training' are the most effective reported interventions for improving motor skills in children with developmental coordination disorder.</p

Understanding parents’ school travel choices: A qualitative study using the Theoretical Domains Framework

© 2017 Elsevier Ltd Traffic related air pollution is detrimental to health and creates a substantial attributable mortality burden. It is suggested that a shift from motorised transport to active forms of travel will therefore have significant health benefits. Currently 46% of school journeys for primary aged children are made by car and this figure has risen steadily. Understanding barriers to active school travel (AST) is an important first step in developing behavioural interventions to increase active travel. The purpose of this study was to explore parents’ experiences of school travel and their choices regarding travel mode with a focus on identifying barriers and facilitators to AST. Twenty parents of primary school children (4–12 years) in the West Yorkshire region took part in semi-structured interviews regarding school travel, informed by the Theoretical Domains Framework. Framework Analysis was used to identify key themes in the data and to develop a comprehensive picture of parents’ experiences of school travel at both individual and structural levels. Distance was the biggest barrier to AST. Time constraints were reported as the main barrier to parents accompanying children in AST, while concerns about safety deterred parents from allowing children to travel independently. The need to incorporate multiple jouneys, such as the work commute and/or multiple school drop-offs, placed demands on parents’ time, while difficulty getting children into local schools meant further to travel for a number of parents. Findings suggest that interventions to promote AST may be particularly effective if tailored towards working parents. However, also addressing factors such as distance to school and school travel at a policy level may produce more significant shifts in behaviour

A systematic review of high quality randomized controlled trials investigating motor skill programmes for children with developmental coordination disorder.

To identify effective motor training interventions for children with developmental coordination disorder from research graded as high quality (using objective criteria) for the purpose of informing evidence-based clinical practice.We followed the guidance for conducting systematic reviews issued by the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination. Six OvidSP electronic databases (AMED, All EBM reviews (including Cochrane), Embase, Ovid MEDLINE, PsychARTICLES Full Text, PsycINFO) were searched systematically. We aimed to retain only randomized control trials and systematic reviews of randomized control trials, defined as the highest level of evidence by the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine. We searched reference lists of retained articles to identify further appropriate articles.Two reviewers critically appraised and categorized articles by effect size (including confidence intervals), inclusion of power calculations and quality using the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) scale. Only studies scoring seven or more on the PEDro scale (classed by the PEDro as high reliability) were retained.No systematic reviews met our criteria for inclusion from 846 articles yielded by the systematic search. Nine randomized control trials investigating 15 interventions to improve motor skills met our inclusion criteria for 'high quality'. Nevertheless, not all included studies were adequately powered for determining an effect.Large effect sizes associated with 95 % confidence intervals suggest that 'Neuromotor Task Training', 'Task-oriented Motor Training' and 'Motor Imagery + Task Practice Training' are the most effective reported interventions for improving motor skills in children with developmental coordination disorder

COVIDiSTRESS diverse dataset on psychological and behavioural outcomes one year into the COVID-19 pandemic

During the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the COVIDiSTRESS Consortium launched an open-access global survey to understand and improve individuals’ experiences related to the crisis. A year later, we extended this line of research by launching a new survey to address the dynamic landscape of the pandemic. This survey was released with the goal of addressing diversity, equity, and inclusion by working with over 150 researchers across the globe who collected data in 48 languages and dialects across 137 countries. The resulting cleaned dataset described here includes 15,740 of over 20,000 responses. The dataset allows cross-cultural study of psychological wellbeing and behaviours a year into the pandemic. It includes measures of stress, resilience, vaccine attitudes, trust in government and scientists, compliance, and information acquisition and misperceptions regarding COVID-19. Open-access raw and cleaned datasets with computed scores are available. Just as our initial COVIDiSTRESS dataset has facilitated government policy decisions regarding health crises, this dataset can be used by researchers and policy makers to inform research, decisions, and policy

Learning to Eat Vegetables in Early Life: The Role of Timing, Age and Individual Eating Traits

Vegetable intake is generally low among children, who appear to be especially fussy during the pre-school years. Repeated exposure is known to enhance intake of a novel vegetable in early life but individual differences in response to familiarisation have emerged from recent studies. In order to understand the factors which predict different responses to repeated exposure, data from the same experiment conducted in three groups of children from three countries (n = 332) aged 4–38 m (18.9±9.9 m) were combined and modelled. During the intervention period each child was given between 5 and 10 exposures to a novel vegetable (artichoke puree) in one of three versions (basic, sweet or added energy). Intake of basic artichoke puree was measured both before and after the exposure period. Overall, younger children consumed more artichoke than older children. Four distinct patterns of eating behaviour during the exposure period were defined. Most children were “learners” (40%) who increased intake over time. 21% consumed more than 75% of what was offered each time and were labelled “plate-clearers”. 16% were considered “non-eaters” eating less than 10 g by the 5th exposure and the remainder were classified as “others” (23%) since their pattern was highly variable. Age was a significant predictor of eating pattern, with older pre-school children more likely to be non-eaters. Plate-clearers had higher enjoyment of food and lower satiety responsiveness than non-eaters who scored highest on food fussiness. Children in the added energy condition showed the smallest change in intake over time, compared to those in the basic or sweetened artichoke condition. Clearly whilst repeated exposure familiarises children with a novel food, alternative strategies that focus on encouraging initial tastes of the target food might be needed for the fussier and older pre-school children

The HAPPY (Healthy and Active Parenting Programmme for early Years) feasibility randomised control trial: acceptability and feasibility of an intervention to reduce infant obesity.

The prevalence of infant obesity is increasing, but there is a lack of evidence-based approaches to prevent obesity at this age. This study tested the acceptability and feasibility of evaluating a theory-based intervention aimed at reducing risk of obesity in infants of overweight/obese women during and after pregnancy: the Healthy and Active Parenting Programme for Early Years (HAPPY).A feasibility randomised controlled trial was conducted in Bradford, England. One hundred twenty overweight/obese pregnant women (Body Mass Index [BMI] ≥25 kg/m(2)) were recruited between 10-26 weeks gestation. Consenting women were randomly allocated to HAPPY (6 antenatal, 6 postnatal sessions: N = 59) or usual care (N = 61). Appropriate outcome measures for a full trial were explored, including: infant's length and weight, woman's BMI, physical activity and dietary intake of the women and infants. Health economic data were collected. Measurement occurred before randomisation and when the infant was aged 6 months and 12 months. Feasibility outcomes were: recruitment/attrition rates, and acceptability of: randomisation, measurement, and intervention. Intra-class correlations for infant weight were calculated. Fidelity was assessed through observations and facilitator feedback. Focus groups and semi-structured interviews explored acceptability of methods, implementation, and intervention content.Recruitment targets were met (~20 women/month) with a recruitment rate of 30 % of eligible women (120/396). There was 30 % attrition at 12 months; 66 % of recruited women failed to attend intervention sessions, but those who attended the first session were likely to continue to attend (mean 9.4/12 sessions, range 1-12). Reaction to intervention content was positive, and fidelity was high. Group clustering was minimal; an adjusted effect size of -0.25 standard deviation scores for infant weight at 12 months (95 % CI: -0.16-0.65) favouring the intervention was observed using intention to treat analyses. No adverse events were reported.The HAPPY intervention appeared feasible and acceptable to participants who attended and those delivering it, however attendance was low; adaptations to increase initial attendance are recommended. Whilst the study was not powered to detect a definitive effect, our results suggest a potential to reduce risk of infant obesity. The evidence reported provides valuable lessons to inform progression to a definitive trial.Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN56735429

Genome-wide analyses as part of the international FTLD-TDP whole-genome sequencing consortium reveals novel disease risk factors and increases support for immune dysfunction in FTLD

Frontotemporal lobar degeneration with neuronal inclusions of the TAR DNA-binding protein 43 (FTLD-TDP) represents the most common pathological subtype of FTLD. We established the international FTLD-TDP whole genome sequencing consortium to thoroughly characterize the known genetic causes of FTLD-TDP and identify novel genetic risk factors. Through the study of 1,131 unrelated Caucasian patients, we estimated that C9orf72 repeat expansions and GRN loss-of-function mutations account for 25.5% and 13.9% of FTLD-TDP patients, respectively. Mutations in TBK1 (1.5%) and other known FTLD genes (1.4%) were rare, and the disease in 57.7% of FTLD-TDP patients was unexplained by the known FTLD genes. To unravel the contribution of common genetic factors to the FTLD-TDP etiology in these patients, we conducted a two-stage association study comprising the analysis of whole-genome sequencing data from 517 FTLD-TDP patients and 838 controls, followed by targeted genotyping of the most associated genomic loci in 119 additional FTLD-TDP patients and 1653 controls. We identified three genome-wide significant FTLD-TDP risk loci: one new locus at chromosome 7q36 within the DPP6 gene led by rs118113626 (pvalue=4.82e-08, OR=2.12), and two known loci: UNC13A, led by rs1297319 (pvalue=1.27e-08, OR=1.50) and HLA-DQA2 led by rs17219281 (pvalue=3.22e-08, OR=1.98). While HLA represents a locus previously implicated in clinical FTLD and related neurodegenerative disorders, the association signal in our study is independent from previously reported associations. Through inspection of our whole genome sequence data for genes with an excess of rare loss-of-function variants in FTLD-TDP patients (n≥3) as compared to controls (n=0), we further discovered a possible role for genes functioning within the TBK1-related immune pathway (e.g. DHX58, TRIM21, IRF7) in the genetic etiology of FTLD-TDP. Together, our study based on the largest cohort of unrelated FTLD-TDP patients assembled to date provides a comprehensive view of the genetic landscape of FTLD-TDP, nominates novel FTLD-TDP risk loci, and strongly implicates the immune pathway in FTLD-TDP pathogenesis