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Biomedical subjects

J A Lerner

Publications and source records attributed to J A Lerner.

12 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1991

Psychological change associated with theophylline treatment of asthmatic children: a 6-month study.

Theophylline has been associated with a variety of behavioral side effects in asthmatic children. This study was a 6-month investigation of the relationship between theophylline treatment and psychological changes in 8 to 16 year old asthmatic children. Included were a group receiving theophylline (n = 19), a control group not receiving theophylline (n = 44), and a nonasthmatic control group (n = 24). The three groups had similar age, socioeconomic status, and IQ. The two groups of children with asthma demonstrated greater emotional dysfunction, characterized by tendency toward withdrawal and depression, than the nonasthmatic control group. Each of five assessment appointments (baseline and 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months after beginning theophylline treatment) included measures of pulmonary function, attention, impulsivity, memory, fine motor control, activity level, self-reported mood, and parental observation of difficult behavior. Pulmonary functions were lower in the theophylline group at baseline but improved significantly after commencement of theophylline therapy. Over the 6-month interval, children in the theophylline group demonstrated improved scores on a laboratory measure of attention, while their parents reported increased conduct problems and hyperactivity. On the whole, psychological score changes were subtle, and no other between-group differences emerged in the remaining laboratory measures.

Affective Symptoms↗
PubMed1991

Association between corticosteroids and psychologic change in hospitalized asthmatic children.

Thirty-two children (mean age 14 years) with chronic, severe asthma were evaluated through the course of short-term prednisone "burst" treatment. At high steroid day (mean dose = 61.4 mg), the children reported more symptoms of anxiety and depression and demonstrated diminished verbal memory relative to low steroid day (mean dose = 6.97 mg). Order effects (evaluation at high steroid day first versus low steroid day first) were not significant for these steroid-sensitive variables. No dose-related changes emerged on measures of hyperactivity, attention, impulsivity, or fine motor control. Five subject variables were examined as potential risk factors. No association emerged between psychologic change scores and age, socioeconomic status, IQ, or asthma severity. Significant findings indicated that, as children increasingly demonstrated emotional difficulty or were from dysfunctional families, they were more likely to experience negative psychologic changes associated with high-dose steroids.

Adolescent↗