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Biomedical subjects

L W Desch

Publications and source records attributed to L W Desch.

14 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1996

Weight gain: a possible factor in deciding timing for inguinal hernia repair in premature infants.

A retrospective study was done to determine whether improved weight gain follows inguinal hernia repair in the premature infant and whether the presence of an inguinal hernia is associated with comparatively poorer weight gain prior to repair. Demographic and growth data from 28 premature infants who had undergone hernia repair were compared with corresponding data from 25 matched "control" premature patients. The two groups' weight for age Z scores for both time periods (i.e., before and after hernia repair) were then determined and analyzed. The differences found in Z scores between these two groups indicated that premature infants who have inguinal hernias seem to grow better after the hernia repair as compared with before the surgery. Despite issues related to group matching, the results of this study indicate that weight gain may be an additional factor to consider in determining the appropriate time to do surgical correction of a premature infant's inguinal hernia.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1991

Comparison of a computer tutorial with other methods for teaching well-newborn care.

Research using a computer-assisted instructional program developed for teaching well-newborn care is described. Third-year medical students were randomly assigned during their week-long nursery rotation into three groups to study the acceptability and effectiveness of using the computer-assisted instructional lessons. Group A, the control group, was not required to complete any additional educational task. Group B was assigned specific reading material. Group C completed the microcomputer-based tutorial. (The term tutorial is often used interchangeably to describe the computer-assisted instructional program.) Both groups B and C improved dramatically on a posttest in comparison with group A. There was no statistically significant difference between groups B and C on the improvement from pretest to posttest scores. However, significantly less time was spent by group C completing the tutorial compared with the total time spent reading by group B. The results of this study provide further illustration of the feasibility and effectiveness of using a computer-assisted instructional program for medical student education.

Attitude to Computers↗
PubMed1990

Relationship of head circumference to measures of school performance.

To study the possible relationship of head circumference (HC) to learning problems in children, a retrospective study was done, using records from 360 subjects who had been evaluated between the years 1976 and 1981. The data selected from the records included standardized academic test results, e.g., IQ scores and school achievement test results, as well as determinations of visual motor abilities. Statistical analyses demonstrated a positive correlation between full scale IQ (FSIQ) and HC (p less than 0.005). The incidence of specific learning disabilities based on significant academic and achievement discrepancies was 54% in those with HC greater than 2 S.D., 39% for normocephalic, and 23% for those with HC less than 2 S.D. Comparison of HC with results from the Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT) demonstrated a tendency for those children with HC greater than 2 S.D. to have lower arithmetic scores when compared to results of children with normocephaly. Scores for spelling and reading ability did not demonstrate this tendency. The results of this study were found to be somewhat incongruous to those of previous studies of similar children. Further studies using large unselected populations are needed to better define the risks to learning that may be related to the extremes of head circumference.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Evaluation of changes made to an infant home apnea monitoring program in response to findings from a national consensus panel.

A comparison was made of two different management methods that were developed to help follow high-risk infants on home apnea or bradycardia monitors. With the first method (group 1), used before 1986, decisions were based partly on home pneumogram results. The second method (group 2), based partly on suggestions about monitoring from a national consensus panel, mainly uses clinical history to assist with making decisions. Comparisons were made between the two groups of infants in a retrospective clinical analysis. The infants in group 2, on the average, had significantly fewer days on a monitor than group 1 (174 vs 324) and had much fewer pneumogram tests (0.3 vs 1.6). Several advantages in using a specific monitoring follow-up procedure were noted, including the benefits to the parents from using a consistent plan for management.

Algorithms↗
PubMed1986

Use of commercial 'authoring systems' for medical education.

A recent development in computer-assisted medical instruction has been the introduction of 'authoring systems'. Authoring systems are computer programs which can allow an instructor to prepare computer-based medical instructional materials without the need to know programming languages or have more than minimal familiarity with the computer hardware. This report documents the use of a commercially available authoring system that was used to prepare a tutorial for medical student instruction. This lesson presented information about paediatric developmental disabilities in both a text and question-and-answer format. Significant improvement in knowledge was demonstrated by the pre- and post-test results of the study group compared to the control group. The control group consisted of students who did not view the tutorial but had been assigned to a paediatric developmental disabilities clinic. The medical students who viewed the tutorial generally had very favourable comments about the use of such a system for the presentation of new information.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed1986

High technology for handicapped children: a pediatrician's viewpoint.

Children with various types of disabilities are beginning to benefit from the extensive developments in the field of electronic and microcomputer technology that have occurred in recent years. There exists now many devices that can assist children with physical or communication handicaps, learning difficulties, or sensory impairments. Reviews of the literature were made in order to present some of the devices that are currently available and to introduce the concepts that they exemplify. With all of these devices, but especially for those designed to aid physically or communicatively handicapped children, careful planning and evaluation is needed. Steps in the processes of evaluation and selection of devices are outlined and discussed. Proper training and monitoring the use of these devices are other aspects that are addressed. Several issues dealing with the funding of these devices and how these devices can be used in innovative research, are also presented.

Audiovisual Aids↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Use of incremental weight charts with follow-up of high-risk infants.

A retrospective descriptive study was done to determine the potential usefulness of using incremental weight charts in the management of infants followed in a high-risk infant follow-up clinic. For this study, 135 charts were reviewed and 42 were subjected to data collection and analysis by using commercially available weight velocity charts. The incremental weight charts that were produced demonstrated that most of the infants studied had growth velocities well within the normal range; however, infants who had a history of bronchopulmonary dysplasia had a tendency to have weight velocities below the 5th percentile. Also observed was a correlation for infants born with a very low birth weight (< 1000 gm) to have somewhat lower, although usually normal, percentiles for later weight velocity. Analysis and comparison of these incremental charts with standard growth charts for these infants demonstrated that incremental weight charts appear to be superior to standard charts in graphically demonstrating changes in weight over time.

Body Weight↗