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Biomedical subjects

Prahbhjot Malhi

Publications and source records attributed to Prahbhjot Malhi.

10 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Risperidone in children with autism: randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study.

Some open-label studies suggest that risperidone can be useful in the treatment of certain target symptoms in children with autism. We aimed to study whether the use of risperidone in comparison with placebo improved functioning in children with autism with regard to behavior (aggressiveness, hyperactivity, irritability), social and emotional responsiveness, and communication skills. We conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial with 40 consecutive children with autism, whose ages ranged from 2 to 9 years, who were receiving either risperidone or placebo given orally at a dose of 1 mg/day for 6 months. Autism symptoms were monitored periodically. The outcome variables were total scores on the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) and the Children's Global Assessment Scale (CGAS) after 6 months. Of the 40 children enrolled, 39 completed the trial over a period of 18 months; 19 received risperidone, and 20 received placebo. In the risperidone group, 12 of 19 children showed improvement in the total Childhood Autism Rating Scale score and 17 of 19 children in the Children's Global Assessment Scale score compared with 0 of 20 children for the Childhood Autism Rating Scale score and 2 of 20 children for the Children's Global Assessment Scale score in the placebo group (P < .001 and P = .035, respectively). Risperidone also improved social responsiveness and nonverbal communication and reduced the symptoms of hyperactivity and aggression. Risperidone was associated with increased appetite and a mild weight gain, mild sedation in 20%, and transient dyskinesias in three children. Risperidone improved global functioning and social responsiveness while reducing hyperactivity and aggression in children with autism and was well tolerated.

Autistic Disorder↗
PubMed2006

Patterns and problems of sleep in school going children.

This study was conducted to assess the sleep habits and problems of 103 young school going healthy children (3-10 yr) during their visit to hospital for minor illnesses or routine health visits for immunization. The average duration of daily sleep (nocturnal and daytime nap) was 10.32 and the percentage of children who took regular daytime nap was 28.2%. Co- sleeping, a traditional cultural practice in India was found in 93% of the children. Sleep related problems were reported in 42.7% children that included nocturnal enuresis (18.4%), sleep talking (14.6%), bruxism (11.6%) nightmares (6.8%), night terrors (2.9%) snoring (5.8%) and sleepwalking (1.9%). On univariate analysis, sleep related problems were notably common if it was nuclear family (Fishers exact test; P = 0.01), mother was younger in age (Mann Whitney U test; P= .04) and less educated (Mann Whitney U test; P=.04). However, when these predictors were entered simultaneously into a logistic regression model, only nuclear family remained as significant predictor of sleep related disorders (odds ratio 2.41; CI; 1.04-5.57). We conclude that sleep problems are frequent among healthy school going children seen at general pediatric practice.

Age Distribution↗
PubMed2005

Patterns of development in young children with autism.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the extent to which the developmental profile of children less than 4 years can help in distinguishing children with autism from children with developmental delay. METHODS: Subjects were 32 children with autism as per the DSM IV criteria and 32 children with developmental delay matched on chronological and academic age. The Developmental Profile II was used to assess the developmental functioning in five domains including physical, social, self help, academic, and communication. RESULTS: The two groups showed significantly different developmental profiles and these differences were accounted for mainly by significantly lower social skills and superior motor skills in the autistic group as compared to the developmentally delayed group. CONCLUSION: Developmental Profile II may help in distinguishing young children with autistic disorder from non-autistic children with comparable developmental delays.

Autistic Disorder↗
PubMed2005

Maternal estimates of mental age in developmental assessment.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the accuracy and clinical utility of maternal estimates of mental age in young children referred for developmental assessment. METHODS: Mothers of 100 children aged 16 to 60 months referred for developmental evaluation to psychology services of Department of Pediatrics of a tertiary care teaching hospital were asked to estimate the mental age of their child. Maternal estimates were converted to intelligence quotient (IQ) and were compared to results from developmental tests of cognitive and adaptive behavior functioning which were administered to all children. RESULTS: Maternal estimate IQ was highly correlated with IQ calculated from Developmental Profile II (r=.83, p<.001) and social quotient (SQ) calculated from Vineland Social Maturity Scale (r=.81, p<.001). Maternal estimate IQ was 82% sensitive to cognitive delay and 81% specific in identifying children likely to have normal development. Twenty seven percent of the maternal estimates were within +/- 5 IQ points of actual IQ. Mothers were more likely to overestimate their child's functioning. Maternal IQ (Mean=62.1, S.D. =25.8) was significantly higher (t=2.93, p<.004) than the actual IQ (Mean=57.9, S.D.=21.9). Step-wise multiple regression analysis revealed that the child's IQ and SQ explained 10% of the variance (F=6.40, p<.001) in maternal accuracy. The lower the SQ and IQ of the child, more accurate the estimates. CONCLUSION: Maternal estimates of mental age provide an accurate measure of developmental functioning in young children and may be used as a screening technique to identify a subset of children who need more detailed evaluation.

Child Development↗
PubMed2005

Correlates of quality of life with epilepsy.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the quality of life of children with epilepsy and to identify the demographic, disease related, and behavioral and emotional functioning variables in the prediction of quality of life of children with epilepsy. METHOD: Forty three children aged 4 to 15 years (Mean=10.3 years) with epilepsy were recruited from the outpatient services of the Department of Pediatrics, of a tertiary care teaching hospital in North India. Quality of life was measured by Impact of Epilepsy Schedule, a 39 items parent reported questionnaire and child's emotional and behavioral functioning at home was assessed by the Childhood Psychopathology Measurement Schedule. RESULTS: Majority of the parents expressed major concerns regarding seizures, treatment by anticonvulsants, present and future problems for the child and problems in parenting. Nearly 40% of the children had psychopathology scores in the clinically significant maladjustment range. Step-wise multiple regression analysis revealed that the psychopathology scores and mother's education accounted for 39% of the variance in the quality of life scores. CONCLUSION: Children with epilepsy have a relatively compromised quality of life and focusing simply on control of seizures may not address the full range of child's emotional and behavioral difficulties.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2005

Reactions of Indian adolescents to the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

OBJECTIVE: There is information about the impact of disasters and trauma on children, but little is known about the effects of terrorism particularly in India. (i) To assess the knowledge of the 9/11 terrorist attacks to the school going adolescents of India who were miles away from the actual incident. (ii) To compare the reactions to this event among the boys and girls. METHODS: The study used a survey design with a self-report questionnaire administered to 406 students in 6 schools of standards 9-12. The questionnaire was administered within 3 weeks of occurrence of this event. The mean age of the subjects was 16.34 years (SD= 1.22; range= 13-20) and 44.1% were boys. RESULTS: All the students were aware about this event. Awareness that the twin towers were hit was in 81.06 but only 51.94% knew that Pentagon was also hit. All the children knew who the prime suspect was although only 12.62% were aware about the country to which he belonged. The source of knowledge of the events was the television in 74.7% of the adolescents and 17.95% of them viewed foreign news channels additionally to the Indian channels to gather details about the event. Newspaper, radio and internet were the sources of information in 44.17%, 3.4% and 3.5% children respectively. Of the adolescents who gathered information from the television, 84.7% agreed that there had been an increase in their TV viewing time since the event and it was more than one hour per day in 47.5% of them. None of the students supported the terrorist attacks. The number of students with negative stressors was significantly more than the ones who were unaffected (p 0.0001). The girls were significantly more affected than the boys and while the former expressed anger the latter were more fearful and sad. (p 0.05) The idea of USA going for war against Afghanistan was supported by 69.4% and one third of them believed that such an event might adversely affect India. The adolescents who had witnessed the events on television were more fearful and shocked than the ones who read about the event in the print media (p 0.05). CONCLUSION: This study emphasizes the adverse reactions in the minds of adolescents in India to terrorist events even though they did not directly witness the events of September 11,2001. The role of media exposure in causing stress is also revealed. Pediatricians should be aware of the adverse effects of terrorism in the minds of the children and should be able to identify and help those who are in need.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most commonly diagnosed behavior disorder of childhood. In recent years, increasing number of preschoolers appear to be manifesting the core symptoms of ADHD. Diagnosis of ADHD in very young children is difficult as high activity level, impulsivity and short attention span are to some extent age appropriate characteristics of normal pre-school children. Concerns both about over-diagnosis and under-diagnosis have been expressed in the literature. Management emphasizing parental counseling, behavior management strategies, and appropriate pharmacotherapy is recommended.

Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity↗
PubMed2003

Epilepsy in children with cerebral palsy.

To study the spectrum of epilepsy in children with cerebral palsy, 105 consecutive children with cerebral palsy and active epilepsy, between 1 and 14 years of age, were studied prospectively. A detailed history and examination, electroencephalography (EEG), and computed tomography (CT) were done in all cases. The social quotient was assessed using the Vineland Social Maturity Scale. A retrospective cohort of 452 cases of cerebral palsy was studied to find the prevalence of epilepsy in cerebral palsy. A control group of 60 age-matched children with cerebral palsy but no epilepsy was also studied for comparison of the social quotient. Of the 105 children, 65 were male, 40 of 105 (38%) had a history of birth asphyxia. The mean age of onset of seizures was 18.9 months; 64 (60.95%) had seizure onset before 1 year of age. Children with myoclonic seizures (P < .05) and infantile spasms (P < .01) had seizure onset significantly early in life. Generalized seizures were the most common, followed by partial seizures, infantile spasms, and other myoclonic seizures. Seizures were controlled in 45 (58.1%) children, and polytherapy was required in 40 children. EEG and CT abnormalities were seen in 70.5% and 61% of the children. Seizure control was achieved in 74% of the patients with a normal to borderline social quotient compared with 48.7% with a social quotient less than 70. Social quotient values had a positive correlation with age of onset of seizures (P < .01) and with better control of seizures (P < .01). Of the cohort of 452 children, 160 (35.4%) had epilepsy. The maximum incidence (66%) was seen in children with spastic hemiplegia, followed by quadriplegia (42.6%) and diplegia (15.8%). Epilepsy in cerebral palsy is seen in about one third of cases; it is often severe and difficult to control particularly in children with mental retardation.

Adolescent↗