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Biomedical subjects

B Tew

Publications and source records attributed to B Tew.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1990

Factors affecting employability among young adults with spina bifida and hydrocephalus.

A sample of 98 young adults with spina bifida were interviewed. None had severe learning difficulties. All were resident in S. Wales or the West of England. Only a third were in open competitive employment, mainly of a clerical nature. Their incomes fell well below average British earnings. Comparing those in work with the unemployed showed they differed significantly according to intelligence, academic qualifications, continence, behaviour, overall disability score and place of residence. The non-discriminating factors are listed and the implications of the findings discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Maternal response to anomalies detected by antenatal ultrasonography.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of an atypical antenatal scan on the expectant mother. DESIGN: Postnatal postal questionnaire. SETTING: Questionnaires completed at home after the infants had been investigated at a regional paediatric surgical unit. SUBJECTS: Twenty-nine mothers. RESULTS: The mothers had a very positive attitude to antenatal ultrasonography. The information that the scan was atypical resulted in a high level of parental anxiety which sometimes persisted into the postnatal period. CONCLUSION: A multidisciplinary approach is required for the management of the expectant mother who has an atypical scan.

Attitude to Health↗
PubMed1987

Medical and social service provision for families of children with NTD.

The supply of services to the families of children with spina bifida participating in the South Wales longitudinal study was reviewed. Initially general information and contact with other mothers were the commonest needs; as the children grew older the need for practical, material and financial help took priority. Parents were, generally, very satisfied with support provided by hospital staff with whom they had frequent, regular contact. Contact with health visitors and social workers was considered insufficient and unsatisfactory. Mothers of more severely disabled children were most likely to receive visits, but some saw none and contact with the social services decreased as the children got older. The locally organised parents association (SWASBAH) was able to provide information, financial assistance, holiday accommodation, and contact with others in a similar position; all of which were common, but otherwise inadequately met, needs. Despite improvements, particularly in financial benefits, over the course of the study, at 18 years parents appeared largely unsupported as they faced major changes in their children's lives. Throughout the study support from SWASBAH and the interviewer appeared to far outweight the statutory, non-medical, support.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

The fathers of children with spina bifida.

Health, employment, marital outcome and involvement with the child, of fathers with spina bifida (IF) and with "normal" controls (CF), were analysed at intervals from birth to 18 years. By 10 years IF had poorer reported health than did CF. By 18 years IF had more specific health problems, many being psychosomatic in nature, than CF or index and control mothers. This pattern was also reflected in the GHQ scores; IF had a significantly higher incidence of symptoms than CF. Practical involvement of IF and CF was generally little different but at 18 years 30% of IF were still involved in their child's "personal care". Employment and income amongst IF and CF did not differ in the early years. By 18 years, significantly more IF were claiming invalidity benefit, while they were also more likely to be the family's only wage-earner. Our evidence suggests that IF suffered surprisingly severely as a result of emotional strain. Both the psychological and practical problems could be alleviated to the benefit of all family members.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

The results of a selective surgical policy on the cognitive abilities of children with spina bifida.

A cohort of spina-bifida children born between 1973 and 1978 and subjected to selection for surgery was divided into those who met specific physical criteria at birth and were offered immediate treatment, and those who had delayed treatment because of adverse criteria. There was a significantly higher level of intelligence among children treated immediately but a fifth of those given delayed treatment had normal levels of intelligence. There were negligible differences in intelligence between the children given delayed treatment and an unselectively treated series of children born between 1964 and 1966, suggesting that postponing surgery for a period does not necessarily have a disastrous effect upon ability.

Child↗
PubMed1985

Selective surgical management of neural tube malformations.

The physical characteristics of 49 children with spina bifida cystica, survivors of a group subjected to selection for early surgery are compared with 39 children alive from an earlier unselected series, born in the 1960s, and reviewed retrospectively. Sixteen children were also studied in whom the initial decision not to operate had been followed by survival and subsequent treatment. Children selected for initial surgery have a significantly lower mortality than those not selected and their mobility at 5 to 7 years of age is better, although only marginally so compared with the unselected group. Selection does not decrease the need for shunt treatment of the associated hydrocephalus. None of those not initially selected for surgery have normal faecal or urinary continence, whereas 35% of the selected in group have normal continence and urinary tracts. Children treated immediately have significantly higher degrees of intelligence than both the unselectively treated and those whose treatment was delayed but a fifth of the latter group were intellectually normal. There were only small differences in intelligence between children given delayed treatment and those unselectively treated, suggesting that postponing surgery does not necessarily have a deleterious effect on ability.

Cerebrospinal Fluid Shunts↗
PubMed1984

Long-term reactions following a stillbirth with a congenital abnormality: a preliminary report.

Just over half of the sixty women who were interviewed ten and twenty years after they were delivered of a stillborn malformed baby, seem to have resolved their grief completely and have accepted the stillbirth. The remainder have become clinically depressed or have shown physical symptoms typical of anxiety states. Factors contributing to their unresolved mourning were: 1) failure on the doctor's part to explain, comprehensively, the reason for the stillbirth; 2) lack of emotional support during and after the stillbirth.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1984

The relationship between intelligence and academic achievements in spina bifida adolescents.

I.Q. scores taken at sixteen years were significantly related to external examination results in both spina bifida and control groups. An I.Q. of 110 or more was associated with a high probability of GCE passes and an I.Q. under 90 with no passes. Three interrelated factors were responsible for poor academic achievement. These were: special school attendance shunt insertion, and severe physical handicap Only 6% of the aggressively treated children in this study are likely to enter higher education; those leaving school without qualifications and a physical handicap are much more likely to be unemployed.

Achievement↗
PubMed1981

The energy expenditure of spina bifida children during walking and wheelchair ambulation.

Energy expenditure was measured during walking and wheelchair ambulation among a group of 22 spina bifida children. Walking energy expenditure was generally higher than during wheelchair ambulation and significantly higher again than that expected for normals matched for weight. The energy expended during both types of locomotion related to the weight of the subjects and not the site of lesion. Physical apathy, excessive weight and increased energy expenditure tended to be connected. Data are presented which will be of use in assessing the physical effort involved in the two types of locomotion, and in calculating dietary energy requirements.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1979

The clinical and psychological characteristics of children with the "cocktail party" syndrome.

40% of a group of children with spina bifida were identified as having the "cocktail party" syndrome at the age of 5. In comparison to spina bifida cases with meaningful speech, children with this syndrome tended to have more severe multiple physical handicaps and to be of significantly lower intelligence. At the age of 7 there were significant differences between the two groups in school performance. Reassessment at 10 showed that almost half of the children no longer showed this syndrome, but those who retained this behaviour were grossly retarded. The aetiology of the condition is discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1975

The effects of hydrocephalus on intelligence, visual perception and school attainment.

A group of 59 children with spina bifida, and a group of matched controls, were given detailed psychological and educational tests at five and seven years. The scores of the control group were similar to the national figures. The scores of the children with spina bifida only (without hydrocephalus) were closest to normal, but still below average. Those with spontaneously arrested hydrocephalus were in the backward range of abilities, and those with shunt-treated hydrocephalus had scores which generally were incompatible with normal levels of intelligence and attainment. Abnormal visuo-perceptual functioning closely correlated with defects in intelligence. The results of the school-attainment tests paralleled the distribution of intelligence but many of the children were found to be functioning below expectation for both age and measured intelligence.

Attention↗
PubMed1975

Some sources of stress found in mothers of spina bifida children.

The scores on a malaise inventory for 51 mothers of spina bifida children born between 1956 and 1962 in South Wales revealed significantly higher scores when the child was incontinent, had a severe locomotor disability, had an IQ less than 80, and was attending a special school rather than a normal school. No difference in scores was found between the sexes or for size of family, and only a slight difference occurred between the malaise scores of mothers of mildly and moderately handicapped children.

Adolescent↗