A simple screening method for determining knowledge of the appropriate levels of activity and risk behaviour in young people with congenital cardiac conditions

Objective: To assess a novel method for assessing risk and providing advice about activity to children and young people with congenital cardiac disease and their parents. Design and setting: Questionnaire survey in outpatient clinics at a tertiary centre dealing with congenital cardiac disease, and 6 peripheral clinics. Interventions: Children or their parents completed a brief questionnaire. If this indicated a desire for help, or a serious mismatch between advised and real level of activity, they were telephoned by a physiotherapist. Main measures of outcome: Knowledge about appropriate levels of activity, and identification of the number exercising at an unsafe level, the number seeking help, and the type of help required. Results: 253/258 (98.0%) questionnaires were returned, with 119/253 (47.0%) showing incorrect responses in their belief about their advised level of exercise; 17/253 (6.7%) had potentially dangerous overestimation of exercise. Asked if they wanted advice 93/253 (36.8%) said “yes”, 43/253 (17.0%) “maybe”, and 117/253 (46.2%) “no”. Of those contacted by phone to give advice, 72.7% (56/77) required a single contact and 14.3% (11/77) required an intervention that required more intensive contact lasting from 2 up to 12 weeks. Of the cohort, 3.9% (3/77) were taking part in activities that put them at significant risk. Conclusions: There is a significant lack of knowledge about appropriate levels of activity, and a desire for further advice, in children and young people with congenital cardiac disease. A few children may be at very significant risk. These needs can be identified, and clinical risk reduced, using a brief self-completed questionnaire combined with telephone follow-up from a suitably knowledgeable physiotherapist

The views of parents concerning the planning of services for rehabilitation of families of children with congenital cardiac disease

Background and purpose: Although much previous research has focused on the medical aspects of congenital cardiac disease, there is a growing body of research which suggests that families may need help and support with the wider issues associated with the medical condition. We have previously ascertained from young people with congenital cardiac disease their views on this subject. The purpose of this study was to obtain the views of their parents about the need for, and shape of, services for rehabilitation. Methods: This was a qualitative study using semi-structured interviews. We interviewed 17 parents in their own home. Interviews were tape-recorded and transcribed. Results: Parents would welcome more help and support from health professionals to enable them to manage more effectively the condition with their children. Particular areas of concern relate to the information they receive about the condition; communication between themselves and health professionals; establishing safe levels of activity; and managing the condition at school. Conclusions: This is a small study of the experiences and views of parents, which provides some important information on ways in which health professionals. could address the current lack of services for rehabilitation

The development of a new measure of quality of life for children with congenital cardiac disease

The purpose of the study was to develop a questionnaire measuring health-related R1 quality of life for children and adolescents with congenital heart disease, the ConQol, that would have both clinical and research applications. We describe here the process of construction of a questionnaire, the piloting and the development of a weighted scoring system, and data on the psychometric performance of the measure in a sample of 640 children and young people recruited via 6 regional centres for paediatric cardiology from across the United Kingdom. The ConQol has two versions, one designed for children aged from 8 to 11 years, and the other for young people aged from 12 to 16 years. Initial findings suggest that it is a valid and reliable instrument, is acceptable to respondents, and is simple to administer in both a research and clinical context

Age- and stereovision-dependent eye-hand coordination deficits in children with amblyopia and abnormal binocularity

Purpose: To examine factors contributing to eye-hand coordination deficits in children with amblyopia and impaired stereovision. Methods: Participants were 55 anisometropic or strabismic children aged 5.0-9.25 years with different degrees of amblyopia and abnormal binocularity along with 28 age-matched visually-normal controls. Pilot data were obtained from 4 additional patients studied longitudinally at different treatment stages. Movements of the preferred hand were recorded using a 3D motion-capture system while subjects reached-to-precision grasp objects (2 sizes, 3 locations) under binocular, dominant eye and amblyopic/non-sighting eye conditions. Kinematic and 'error' performance measures were quantified and compared by viewing condition and subject group using ANOVA, stepwise regression and correlation analyses. Results: Movements of the younger (age 5-6) amblyopes (n=30) were much slower, particularly in the final approach to the objects, and contained more spatial errors in reaching (~x1.25-1.75) and grasping (~x1.75-2.25) under all three views (p<0.05) than their age-matched controls (n=13). Amblyopia severity was the main contributor to their slower movements with absent stereovision a secondary factor and the unique determinant of their increased error-rates. Older (age 7-9) amblyopes (n=25) spent longer contacting the objects before lifting them (p=0.015) compared to their matched controls (n=15), with absence of stereovision still solely related to increases in reach and grasp errors, although these occurred less frequently than in younger patients. Pilot prospective data supported these findings by showing positive treatment-related associations between improved stereovision and reach-to-grasp performance

Using a model of group psychotherapy to support social research on sensitive topics

This article describes the exploratory use of professional therapeutic support by social researchers working on a sensitive topic. Talking to recently bereaved parents about the financial implications of their child's death was expected to be demanding work, and the research design included access to an independent psychotherapeutic service. Using this kind of professional support is rare within the general social research community, and it is useful to reflect on the process. There are likely to be implications for collection and interpretation of data, research output and the role and experience of the therapist. Here, the primary focus is the potential impact on researcher well-being

Key worker services for disabled children: what characteristics of services lead to better outcomes for children and families?

Background: Research has shown that families of disabled children who have a key worker benefit from this service and recent policy initiatives emphasize the importance of such services. However, research is lacking on which characteristics of key worker schemes for disabled children are related to better outcomes for families. Methods: A postal questionnaire was completed by 189 parents with disabled children who were receiving a service in seven key worker schemes in England and Wales. Path analysis was used to investigate associations between characteristics of the services and outcomes for families (satisfaction with the service, impact of key worker on quality of life, parent unmet need, child unmet need). Results: The four path models showed that key workers carrying out more aspects of the key worker role, appropriate amounts of contact with key workers, regular training, supervision and peer support for key workers, and having a dedicated service manager and a clear job description for key workers were associated with better outcomes for families. Characteristics of services had only a small impact on child unmet need, suggesting that other aspects of services were affecting child unmet need. Conclusions: Implications for policy and practice are discussed, including the need for regular training, supervision and peer support for key workers and negotiated time and resources for them to carry out the role. These influence the extent to which key workers carry out all aspects of the key worker's role and their amount of contact with families, which in turn impact on outcomes

Systems view of adipogenesis via novel omics-driven and tissue-specific activity scoring of network functional modules

The investigation of the complex processes involved in cellular differentiation must be based on unbiased, high throughput data processing methods to identify relevant biological pathways. A number of bioinformatics tools are available that can generate lists of pathways ranked by statistical significance (i.e. by p-value), while ideally it would be desirable to functionally score the pathways relative to each other or to other interacting parts of the system or process. We describe a new computational method (Network Activity Score Finder - NASFinder) to identify tissue-specific, omics-determined sub-networks and the connections with their upstream regulator receptors to obtain a systems view of the differentiation of human adipocytes. Adipogenesis of human SBGS pre-adipocyte cells in vitro was monitored with a transcriptomic data set comprising six time points (0, 6, 48, 96, 192, 384 hours). To elucidate the mechanisms of adipogenesis, NASFinder was used to perform time-point analysis by comparing each time point against the control (0 h) and time-lapse analysis by comparing each time point with the previous one. NASFinder identified the coordinated activity of seemingly unrelated processes between each comparison, providing the first systems view of adipogenesis in culture. NASFinder has been implemented into a web-based, freely available resource associated with novel, easy to read visualization of omics data sets and network modules

The improving outcomes in intermittent exotropia study: outcomes at 2 years after diagnosis in an observational cohort

Background: The purpose of this study was to investigate current patterns of management and outcomes of intermittent distance exotropia [X(T)] in the UK. Methods: This was an observational cohort study which recruited 460 children aged < 12 years with previously untreated X(T). Eligible subjects were enrolled from 26 UK hospital ophthalmology clinics between May 2005 and December 2006. Over a 2-year period of follow-up, clinical data were prospectively recorded at standard intervals from enrolment. Data collected included angle, near stereoacuity, visual acuity, control of X(T) measured with the Newcastle Control Score (NCS), and treatment. The main outcome measures were change in clinical outcomes (angle, stereoacuity, visual acuity and NCS) in treated and untreated X(T), 2 years from enrolment (or, where applicable, 6 months after surgery). Change over time was tested using the chi-square test for categorical, Wilcoxon test for non-parametric and paired-samples t-test for parametric data. Results: At follow-up, data were available for 371 children (81% of the original cohort). Of these: 53% (195) had no treatment; 17% (63) had treatment for reduced visual acuity only (pure refractive error and amblyopia); 13% (50) had non surgical treatment for control (spectacle lenses, occlusion, prisms, exercises) and 17% (63) had surgery. Only 0.5% (2/371) children developed constant exotropia. The surgically treated group was the only group with clinically significant improvements in angle or NCS. However, 8% (5) of those treated surgically required second procedures for overcorrection within 6 months of the initial procedure and at 6-month follow-up 21% (13) were overcorrected. Conclusions: Many children in the UK with X(T) receive active monitoring only. Deterioration to constant exotropia, with or without treatment, is rare. Surgery appears effective in improving angle of X(T) and NCS, but rates of overcorrection are high