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David Howard

Publications and source records attributed to David Howard.

20 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Risk factors for speech disorders in children.

The study evaluated the relationship between risk factors and speech disorders. The parents of 65 children with functional speech disorders (aged 2;7-7;2) and 48 normally speaking controls (aged 3;4-6;1) completed a questionnaire investigating risk factors associated in the literature with developmental communication disorders. The findings indicated that some risk factors (pre- and perinatal problems, ear, nose and throat (ENT) problems, and sucking habits and positive family history) distinguished speech-disordered from normally speaking control populations. The present study also investigated whether specific risk factors were associated with three subgroups of speech disorders identified according to their surface error patterns as suggested by Dodd (1995). No risk factor apart from pre- and perinatal factors could be found that differentiated these subgroups of speech disorder, so that none of the subgroups exhibited a specific profile of risk factor involvement. Neither was it possible to classify the children according to the risk factor categories suggested by Shriberg's classification system (Shriberg 1994). The relevance of risk factor identification for functional speech disorders is discussed.

Case-Control Studies↗

Health insurance and spending among cancer patients.

Over 1.3 million new cancer cases are diagnosed each year. While most cancer patients are older and covered by Medicare, our analysis indicates that 10 percent of cancer patients under age sixty-five are uninsured and that 20 percent of Hispanic cancer patients under age sixty-five are uninsured. We find substantial differences in cancer spending by insurance status; uninsured patients under age sixty-five spent 57 percent as much over a six-month period as privately insured patients spent for their cancer care. We present evidence to show that spending differences are due in part or completely to differences in use, which suggests that raising coverage rates will improve cancer treatment.

Adult↗