Teacher reports of hypoactivity symptoms reflect slow cognitive processing speed in primary school children

The mediating effect of cognitive processing speed on the ability of a primary school child to achieve his/her full potential of intellectual functioning emphasizes the importance of methods to detect “slow” children. Primary school teachers may be the first to have concerns about inattentive pupils who show symptoms of hypoactivity, but may find the symptoms difficult to interpret. In the present study we ask if a primary school teacher’s report of hypoactivity symptoms can be explained by the child’s performance on tests of processing speed. The 255 children included in the present study were part of the first wave of the Bergen Child Study, in which teachers completed a questionnaire including two hypoactivity items from the Five to Fifteen (FTF) questionnaire. Processing speed was measured by the Processing Speed Index (PSI) from the WISC-III, 1–2 years after the teacher rating. Teachers reported “certainly true” on at least one FTF item of hypoactivity for 11.8% of the children. These children obtained lower scores on the PSI than the remaining children in the sample. The PSI accounted for a considerable proportion of the variance of teacher reports on the FTF item “difficulty getting started on a task/activity”. The risk of a PSI score below 85 was increased in children with teacher-reported hypoactivity symptoms. The results indicate that teacher reports of hypoactivity symptoms reflect slow cognitive processing speed and should be followed up by a psychometric examination. Still, future studies are needed to improve detection and treatment of children with slow processing speed

Are autistic traits in the general population stable across development?

There is accumulating evidence that autistic traits (AT) are on a continuum in the general population, with clinical autism representing the extreme end of a quantitative distribution. While the nature and severity of symptoms in clinical autism are known to persist over time, no study has examined the long-term stability of AT among typically developing toddlers. The current investigation measured AT in 360 males and 400 males from the general population close to two decades apart, using the Pervasive Developmental Disorder subscale of the Child Behavior Checklist in early childhood (M = 2.14 years; SD = 0.15), and the Autism-Spectrum Quotient in early adulthood (M = 19.50 years; SD = 0.70). Items from each scale were further divided into social (difficulties with social interaction and communication) and non-social (restricted and repetitive behaviours and interests) AT. The association between child and adult measurements of AT as well the influence of potentially confounding sociodemographic, antenatal and obstetric variables were assessed using Pearson's correlations and linear regression. For males, Total AT in early childhood were positively correlated with total AT (r = .16, p = .002) and social AT (r = .16, p = .002) in adulthood. There was also a positive correlation for males between social AT measured in early childhood and Total (r = .17, p = .001) and social AT (r = .16, p = .002) measured in adulthood. Correlations for non-social AT did not achieve significance in males. Furthermore, there was no significant longitudinal association in AT observed for males or females. Despite the constraints of using different measures and different raters at the two ages, this study found modest developmental stability of social AT from early childhood to adulthood in boys

Steinert's syndrome presenting as anal incontinence: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Myotonic dystrophy (MD) or Steinert's syndrome is a rare cause of chronic diarrhea and anal incontinence. In the presence of chronic diarrhea and fecal incontinence with muscle weakness, neuromuscular disorders such as myotonic dystrophy should be considered in the differential diagnosis.</p> <p>Case Presentation</p> <p>We present the case of a 45-year-old Turkish man with Steinert's syndrome, who was not diagnosed until the age of 45.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>In clinical practice, the persistence of diarrhea and fecal incontinence with muscle weakness should suggest that the physician perform an anal manometric study and electromyography. Neuromuscular disorders such as myotonic dystrophy should be considered in the differential diagnosis.</p

Incidence rates of progressive childhood encephalopathy in Oslo, Norway: a population based study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Progressive encephalopathy (PE) in children is a heterogeneous group of diseases mainly composed of metabolic diseases, but it consists also of neurodegenerative disorders where neither metabolic nor other causes are found. We wanted to estimate the incidence rate and aetiology of PE, as well as the age of onset of the disease.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We included PE cases born between 1985 and 2003, living in Oslo, and registered the number presenting annually between 1985 and 2004. Person-years at risk between 0 and 15 years were based on the number of live births during the observation period which was divided into four 5-year intervals. We calculated incidence rates according to age at onset which was classified as neonatal (0–4 weeks), infantile (1–12 months), late infantile (1–5 years), and juvenile (6–12 years).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We found 84 PE cases representing 28 diagnoses among 1,305,997 person years, giving an incidence rate of 6.43 per 100,000 person years. The age-specific incidence rates per 100,000 were: 79.89 (<1 year), 8.64 (1–2 years), 1.90 (2–5 years), and 0.65 (>5 years). 66% (55/84) of the cases were metabolic, 32% (27/54) were neurodegenerative, and 2% (2/84) had HIV encephalopathy. 71% (60/84) of the cases presented at < 1 year, 24% (20/84) were late infantile presentations, and 5% (4/84) were juvenile presentations. Neonatal onset was more common in the metabolic (46%) (25/55) compared to the neurodegenerative group (7%) (2/27). 20% (17/84) of all cases were classified as unspecified neurodegenerative disease.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The overall incidence rate of PE was 6.43 per 100,000 person years. There was a strong reduction in incidence rates with increasing age. Two-thirds of the cases were metabolic, of which almost half presented in the neonatal period.</p

Subgrouping the autism "spectrum": reflections on DSM-5

DSM-5 has moved autism from the level of subgroups ("apples and oranges") to the prototypical level ("fruit"). But making progress in research, and ultimately improving clinical practice, will require identifying subgroups within the autism spectrum

Development of an educational intervention for patients with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) – a pilot study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Many IBS patients experience that they receive limited information and that the health care system does not take their complaints seriously. We aimed to develop a structured patient education, an 'IBS school', and investigate if the efficacy could be evaluated in terms of improved knowledge, symptom severity and health related quality of life (HRQOL).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The IBS school consisted of six weekly two hour sessions in a group setting. Five different health care professionals were responsible for one session each. Questionnaires covering patients' experience of the education, perceived knowledge about IBS, gastrointestinal symptoms, and HRQOL, were used for evaluation at baseline and at three, six, and twelve months after education.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Twelve IBS patients were included. The patients were overall satisfied with the IBS school. In line with this, the gastrointestinal symptoms, HRQOL, and perceived knowledge about IBS improved significantly after the education.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>An IBS school seems to be a proper method to meet the patients' need of information about IBS and also to improve the patients' gastrointestinal symptoms, HRQOL, and knowledge about IBS. Further controlled studies are now needed in larger numbers of patients to confirm these preliminary results in order to implement this intervention in clinical practice.</p