Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to L Nordberg.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Home visiting is a part of the Swedish child health surveillance programme. In the present study, part of a longitudinal prospective project, the predictive power of observations at home visits to 338 newborn babies was evaluated. The regular home visit was made by the nurse at a Child Welfare Centre also using a check-list developed for this project. Her check-list assessments seemed valid in identifying families with stressful psychosocial conditions. When the general home situation was judged as "poor" or "dubious", the boys showed signs of a delayed mental development at 4-5 years of age. Assessments of "feeding problems" among boys were associated with behavioural problems at 4-5 years of age. The results underline the importance of an early home visit as a base for the developmental surveillance at Child Welfare Centres. However, the results of the home visit observations were not followed by any extra interventions at CWC. It seems the nurse should feel confident in her check-list judgement and initiate interventions where appropriate.
The aim of this study was to investigate if children aged 6 years of age, classified as having minimal brain dysfunction (MBD) or deficit in attention, motor control and perception (DAMP), exhibit special medical problems, specific developmental features or if special psychosocial conditions exist in the family. The screening program, using the psychoneurological part of the method developed by Gillberg et al., included 234 children who were followed-up prospectively from pregnancy and birth. The results were related to the physical and mental development of the children, to the psychosocial and socioeconomic conditions of the families, to pre- and postnatal conditions and to "reduced optimality score", as defined by Prechtl. Mental development was assessed by the use of Griffiths' test at 10-14 months and at 4-5 years of age. At the second Griffiths' test, the mother was also interviewed about the presence of aggressiveness and other symptoms of childhood psychopathology in her child, as defined by the DSM-III criteria, and a psychological observation was also made. In addition to screening for MBD/DAMP, at 6 years of age the parents were asked to complete a questionnaire aimed at identifying attention deficit disorder (ADD). No medical or psychological intervention was made before this stage. Fourteen children (9M, 5F) (6%) were identified as having a positive MBD/DAMP screening result. The results of the screening procedure showed a weak correlation with those obtained using the questionnaire based on the DSM-III criteria for ADD.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
A developmental screening programme constructed for the use of Swedish child welfare centres on four-year-old children has been tested on a cohort of 471 children who have been followed up from the stage of early pregnancy. The results of the screening test were compared with data in the project using a multidisciplinary, longitudinal and prospective design. The test, which can be performed by a child welfare centre nurse and which is not time-consuming, includes four items summed up in a four-years-of-age score: the child is asked to name three easily recognizable objects, to draw a cross (according to a model), and to draw a man; in addition, an evaluation is made of speech development. On average, boys were found to have a lower score than girls. The results of the screening test were related to data available in the ongoing project; to the psychosocial conditions of the families, to foetal and perinatal factors (reduced optimality score according to Prechtl), to the presence of psychopathology, and to the results of Griffiths' developmental scales. The developmental screening score, which in most instances was associated with the Griffiths' scales, was found to be related to psychosocial problems in the family and to abnormal behaviour and psychiatric symptoms in the child, but not to reduced optimality scores. The results indicate that a relatively simple screening method is of value for the identification of children who are at risk of abnormal mental and behavioural development, and who may thus be in need of special care and attention.
In a cohort of 532 pregnant women from the general population, it was found by compilation of the results from interviews, police records, hospital records and social welfare records that 23 mothers and 51 fathers in 64 families (12%) were suffering from alcoholism/heavy drinking. In these 64 families, the mother was an addict in only 13 families, both parents were addicts in 10 families, and in the remaining 41 families only the father was an addict. Pregnancy, delivery, the newborn child and the child's development until their fourth year of life have been described using a multidisciplinary approach and a longitudinal prospective design. An hypothesis on mental and physical development, and the occurrence of psychopathological symptoms in the children was tested. None of the children of the 13 alcoholic mothers was born with foetal alcohol syndrome, but foetal hazard was indicated by lower birth weight and a higher rate of perinatal deaths. Children of alcoholic parents had retarded mental development and showed more behavioural problems until 4 years of age than controls, but the differences related to physical development during the first year of life had then disappeared. Boys were found to be more vulnerable than girls. The consequences of behaviour seemed to be more pronounced when both parents were alcoholics. No obvious deviation was found when only the father was addicted. Regarding mental development, it appears that factors related to parental alcoholism, including genetic and social factors, and the sex of the child, are of greater importance than the neonatal score on reduced optimality.
OBJECTIVE: To validate child health clinic nurses' observations at the first visit to families having a newborn baby. DESIGN: The nurses' observations were compared with results from a prenatal assessment of the home conditions and with observations made by a psychologist at a home visit about one year later. SETTING: A newbuilt suburb of Stockholm. PARTICIPANTS: 373 families with a newborn. OUTCOME MEASURES: Distribution of observations in subgroups, maximum likelihood, positive predictive value. RESULTS: A significant relationship between the nurses' observations, the prenatal assessment, and the psychologist's evaluation of the home situation was found. Children from homes assessed as "at risk" by the nurses also had lower quotients at Griffiths' test one year later. CONCLUSION: Already during the child's neonatal period, the nurses make valid observations that are useful in selecting children at risk of subsequent developmental problems.
Of 640 women who paid their first visit to the two maternal welfare centres in a new Stockholm suburb during one prospective year, 532 (85%) were interviewed with regard to 41 stress factors forming a "life stress score" (LSS). The interviews were supplemented with data from hospital, social welfare and police records concerning the expectant mother and the father. The 532 mothers were divided into three groups according to the degree of psychosocial stress (group 1 (n = 194) without psychosocial stress; group 2 (n = 171) with severe psychosocial stress; and group 3 (n = 167) in an intermediate group). In group 2, there were 23 mothers and 51 fathers in 64 families known to suffer from alcoholism/heavy drinking at the time of the first interview and these comprised our study group. The pregnancies and deliveries in the families were investigated with prospective methods. There were 497 liveborn children of whom 54 were born into families known for alcoholism/heavy drinking. The physical health and development of the children was followed by prospective data from the child welfare centers. Data concerning psychological development and psychiatric health of the child were obtained by interviewing the mother and evaluating the child during visits at home at one and four years of age. At one year of age, 452 of the children (226 boys, 226 girls) and at four to five years of age, 412 of the children (202 boys, 210 girls), were evaluated using the Griffiths' Development Scales. Findings from these evaluations form the basis for comparison of development of children from alcoholic/heavy drinking parents with all other children. For 388 children, data were available from all examinations up to the end of the fourth year, including 38 children (12 boys, 26 girls) in the study group and 350 other children (183 boys, 167 girls). The present findings indicate that children of alcoholic parents in the general population who were followed from pregnancy up to the end of their fourth year have a higher risk of pre- and postnatal death, and have poorer mental development and more symptoms of a psychopathological child psychiatric nature (DSM-III) than other children. Differences related to physical development during infant years disappeared during the observation time. With regard to mental development over a longer period, it appears that factors related to the parent's addictions and the child's sex (i.e. male child) are more important than pediatric risk factors in the form of a score of reduced optimality.
Five hundred and thirty-two pregnant women were interviewed about their psychosocial health at the beginning of pregnancy. According to various factors including alcoholism, mental disease and criminality among the women and their husbands the families were divided in three groups of different degrees according to psychosocial stress. The pregnancies, deliveries and the 497 live-born children in these families have been investigated with prospective methods. Data concerning the psychological development and psychiatric health of the child were attained by interviewing the mother and evaluating the child during visits to home (age 1 and 4). The physical health and development of the children has been followed by prospective data achieved from the child welfare centers. At one year of age 452 of the children (226 boys, 226 girls) and at four-five years of age 412 of the children (202 boys, 210 girls) were evaluated by the Griffith's Development Scales. Findings from these evaluations can now be related to a number of factors concerning the psychosocial situation, pediatric riskfactors etc. With the prospective, longitudinal methods used in this project interesting results concerning sex differences related to the mental development have been found. At one year of age girls had higher scores than boys on the Griffiths-subscale measuring hearing-and-speech abilities. At four years of age several significant differences between the sexes were found. Girls had more "even" Griffiths-profiles and scored higher than boys in several Griffiths-subscales. The greatest differences at four years of age were found concerning personal-social function and eye-hand-coordination. Boys seem to be specially vulnerable to the psychosocial situation in their homes as the Griffiths-results at four years of age are lower among boys from homes with psychosocial stress compared to other boys. It should be very interesting to follow and study what these sex differences mean concerning future development, the occurrence of psychopathology school difficulties.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
This article presents the fourth substudy in a Swedish research project of a birth cohort of children in a newly-built Stockholm suburb. The aims are to follow and to describe their mental development by prospective methods. Here we present the results of the one-year follow-up. The children's mental development, measured with the Griffiths' Development Scales, and their behaviour in the test situation and during the home visit are described. These results are related to various psychosocial background factors (such as the parents' ages, number of siblings, form of custody), home environment factors (the parents' mental disease, addictions and criminality) and the children's physical health and development. Children with deviant behaviour during the home visits are described separately. Of 640 women who paid their first visit to the maternal welfare centers in a new Stockholm suburb during one prospective year, 532 (85%) were interviewed with regard to 41 stress factors forming a "Life stress score" (LSS). The interviews were supplemented with data from hospital, social welfare and police records concerning the expectant mother and the father. The 532 mothers were divided into three groups according to the degree of psychosocial stress (194 without psychosocial stress, 171 with severe psychosocial stress and 167 in an intermediate group). The pregnancies and deliveries of all mothers were evaluated. The physical health and development (using information from the child welfare clinics) and the mental health and development (using information from home visits and testings) were studied during infancy in 452 children (226 boys and 226 girls)--i.e. 77% of all children born in the suburb during the year. The children were tested with the Griffiths' Development Scales and their behaviour during the test was observed on home visits by the same psychologist (L.N.) at the age of 10 months (79 boys, 73 girls) or 14 months (92 boys, 107 girls), or about the age of 18 months (55 boys, 46 girls). The test results are mainly reported by descriptive methods. In summary, the results of the evaluation of the children's mental health during the first year of life, generally showed average developmental quotients. However, 20% of the children had values below the average. Thirty-two per cent of the children with low test results (less than -1 standard deviation on the total test) came from homes with serious psychosocial stress and 29% from homes with a mild degree of psychosocial stress. Of the nine children who had generally very low scores in the Griffiths' evaluation, seven came from homes with psychosocial stress.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
A technique for modification of an existing complete denture into a tissue-integrated prosthesis is described. An acceptable conventional denture is clinically attached to titanium abutments in the maxillomandibular position that has proved to function well during a trial period. The framework is fabricated to fit the reduced denture base (Fig. 16). The advantages of this technique include (1) the appearance of the tissue-integrated prosthesis is known in advance; (2) the technique is simple and requires only four visits to complete; (3) the framework fit is predictable; (4) there is minimum insertion and removal; (5) the base has a natural look and the lips have support; and (6) minimum phonetic problems are encountered.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.