Biomedical subjects

Sara Rosenblum

Publications and source records attributed to Sara Rosenblum.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Automatic segmentation as a tool for examining the handwriting process of children with dysgraphic and proficient handwriting.

The purpose of this study was to use an x-y digitizer to collect handwriting samples typical of those written by the child in his or her natural environment, to analyze these samples with novel segmentation algorithms, and to present them visually in ways that illuminate spatial and temporal dynamic features amongst children with dysgraphic and proficient handwriting. While using the POET software (Penmanship Objective Evaluation Tool), a paragraph was copied onto paper affixed to an x-y digitizer by third-grade students, 14 with proficient and 14 with poor handwriting. A segmentation algorithm was developed to automatically isolate writing segments. Results yielded significant differences between the groups in various measures, including the number of the raw segments (i.e., the number of segments before combined with letters), the number of reverse segments (i.e., when the participant returned to correct or complete a previously written segment), the number of letters per minute, and the mean "In-Air" time between letters. Variability in both the spatial and temporal domains of instances of the same letter throughout the text was greater among the dysgraphic handwriters in comparison to the variability among the proficient. These results demonstrated the potential of using automated analytic techniques and visual display to achieve a more comprehensive understanding of handwriting difficulties.

Agraphia↗

PubMed2006

Neuropsychological prediction of conversion to Alzheimer disease in patients with mild cognitive impairment.

CONTEXT: The likelihood of conversion to Alzheimer disease (AD) in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and the "optimal" early markers of conversion need to be established. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate conversion rates to AD in subtypes of MCI and to identify neuropsychological measures most predictive of the time to conversion. DESIGN: Patients were followed up semiannually and controls annually. Subtypes of MCI were determined by using demographically adjusted regression norms on neuropsychological tests. Survival analysis was used to identify the most predictive neuropsychological measures. SETTING: Memory disorders clinic. PARTICIPANTS: One hundred forty-eight patients reporting memory problems and 63 group-matched controls. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: A consensus diagnosis of probable AD. RESULTS: At baseline, 108 patients met criteria for amnestic MCI: 87 had memory plus other cognitive domain deficits and 21 had pure memory deficits. The mean duration of follow-up for the 148 patients was 46.6 +/- 24.6 months. In 3 years, 32 (50.0%) of 64 amnestic-"plus" and 2 (10.0%) of 20 "pure" amnestic patients converted to AD (P = .001). In 148 patients, of 5 a priori predictors, the percent savings from immediate to delayed recall on the Selective Reminding Test and the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised Digit Symbol Test were the strongest predictors of time to conversion. From the entire neuropsychological test battery, a stepwise selection procedure retained 2 measures in the final model: total immediate recall on the Selective Reminding Test (odds ratio per 1-point decrease, 1.10; 95% confidence interval, 1.05-1.14; P < .0001) and Digit Symbol Test coding (odds ratio, 1.06; 95% confidence interval, 1.01-1.11; P = .01). The combined predictive accuracy of these 2 measures for conversion by 3 years was 86%. CONCLUSIONS: Mild cognitively impaired patients with memory plus other cognitive domain deficits, rather than those with pure amnestic MCI, constituted the high-risk group. Deficits in verbal memory and psychomotor speed/executive function abilities strongly predicted conversion to AD.

Aged↗

PubMed2006

Assessing the handwriting process in healthy elderly persons using a computerized system.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Despite the importance of handwriting in everyday life, virtually no literature can be found documenting the extent and range of everyday handwriting performance and ability among healthy elderly persons. The aim of this pilot study was to examine the kinematic characteristics of the handwriting process of healthy elderly persons and its correlates. METHODS: Fifty-three healthy participants (aged 60 to 94) living in the community, performed five functional writing tasks using a computerized system which documented the handwriting process. RESULTS: In air time (i.e., the time of non-writing while writing) accounted for approximately half to two-thirds of total writing time. Higher age was consistently associated with longer on paper and in air time, as well as with lower speed and lower pressure. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this pilot study indicate that kinematic analysis of handwriting provides important information about the handwriting process among elderly people.

Activities of Daily Living↗

PubMed2006

Handwriting process variables discriminating mild Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment.

This study's aims were (a) to examine kinematically the handwriting process of persons with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), compared with those with mild Alzheimer's disease and healthy controls; (b) to assess the importance of these measures for the differentiation of the groups; and (c) to assess characteristics of the handwriting process across different functional tasks. Thirty-one persons with MCI, 22 with mild Alzheimer's disease, and 41 healthy controls performed functional tasks while using a computerized system. We found significant differences between the groups in almost all measures, with the MCI group assuming a position between the other groups. Temporal measures were higher and pressure was lower in more cognitively deteriorated groups. Information gathered about kinematic measures, together with cognitive functioning, allowed us to classify 69% to 72% of the participants correctly, although the classification for the MCI group was relatively poor.

Aged↗

PubMed2005

Using the Alphabet Task to differentiate between proficient and nonproficient handwriters.

From 10 to 30% of elementary school-aged children have handwriting difficulties. The purpose of this study was to examine whether the Alphabet Task performed on a computerized digitizer system may be used as a screening tool in order to differentiate between nonproficient and proficient writers. Performance on the Alphabet Task was compared for 50 third grade students defined by their teachers as nonproficient writers (M age = 8.7 yr., SD = 0.3) and 50 age- and sex-matched classmates defined as proficient writers (M age = 8.6 yr., SD = 0.4). Analysis indicated significant differences between the two groups in temporal and spatial measures of the Alphabet Task performance, supporting its use in screening for handwriting difficulties. Possible implications of the results for intervention with children with handwriting difficulties are discussed.

Aptitude↗

PubMed2003

The In Air phenomenon: temporal and spatial correlates of the handwriting process.

From 10 to 30% of elementary school-aged children have handwriting difficulties. Examination of such difficulties is important given the variety of academic, emotional, and social consequences that they can impose. One such common problem is the tendency of children to pause while writing. Thus the objective of this study was to use a computerized digitizer system to examine the tendency of poor writers to pause while writing. Handwriting samples of varying type and length were collected from Grade 3 students, 50 of whom were proficient writers and 50 of whom were poor writers as judged by a questionnaire completed by the classroom teachers and verified by the Hebrew Handwriting Evaluation. Analysis indicated that the so-called pauses are not stationary breaks between the writing of successive segments because letters and words were usually associated with considerable movement of the pen above the writing surface. This In Air writing occurred with significantly greater frequency for poor writers than for the proficient writers in most handwriting tasks. The results suggest possible underlying perceptual-motor difficulties, which could be considered when planning effective handwriting interventions.

Child↗

PubMed2003

The relationship between postural control and fine manual dexterity.

The influence of the development of postural control of the trunk and center of the body on the development of fine manual dexterity ability is a common assumption. The objectives of this study were: (1) to examine the relationship between the adult version of the Nine-Hole Peg Test and the "children's version" in order to establish construct validity for the latter, and (2) to investigate the relationship between postural control and fine motor performance of children developing typically aged five to six. The study sample included 47 children, 25 males and 22 females, with a mean age of 5 years and 8 months and a standard deviation of 3.8 months. Two tests were administered: (1) The balance subtest of the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency (BOTMP; Bruininks, 1978); and (2) the Nine-Hole Peg Test (NHPT; Kellor, Frost, Silberg Iversen & Cumming, 1971), as well as the "children's version" of rotation and translation tasks (Case-Smith, 1993, 1995). The adult version of the NHPT revealed significant moderate correlations with most of the BOTMP tasks for both hands. Secondary results of the study support the concurrent validity of the two "children's version" tasks. Results show low to moderate correlations between performance on the NHPT subtests and the BOTMP subtest tasks, with significant correlations ranging from -.31 to -.47. Given the negative and low correlations obtained in this study, it is suggested that more extensive longitudinal research examine the relationship between postural control and fine motor manual dexterity performance.

Child, Preschool↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Using data visualization and signal processing to characterize the handwriting process.

INTRODUCTION: Disturbances in handwriting legibility and speed are found among elementary school-aged children. The aim of this paper is to present a set of sophisticated analytical tools suitable for visualization and evaluation of handwriting disturbances. METHODS: Handwriting samples from 30 children, 15 proficient and 15 non-proficient handwriters, aged 8-9 years were collected with the aid of a digitizing tablet. Temporal and spatial measures of the handwriting process dynamics based on signal processing methods were developed and visually presented. RESULTS: Significant differences between proficient and non-proficient handwriters were found in handwriting characteristics such as the standard deviations of letter width (t=2.96, p=0.008), letter height (t=3.24, p=0.005) and pen elevation (t=2.91, p=0.008). Significant differences were also found for the number of pen lifts (t=2.27, p=0.03), for the value of the correlation coefficients between letter length and time (t= -6.62, p=0.000) and between the actual and computed number of words (t=2.79, p=0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The techniques described in this paper provide objective measures for handwriting performance presented in a way designed to help clinicians and educators visualize handwriting difficulties during clinical evaluation and intervention. Data visualization and analysis appear to enhance information concerning the spatial and temporal dynamics of handwriting.

Agraphia↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Computerized temporal handwriting characteristics of proficient and non-proficient handwriters.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to use computerized temporal measures to examine and compare the writing process of proficient and non-proficient third-grade handwriters. METHOD: A computerized digitizer system was used to compare the temporal handwriting measures of two groups of 8-9-year-old students. Classroom teachers used a questionnaire to identify 50 students who were non-proficient handwriters and 50 students who were proficient handwriters. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) analyses were used to test for the group differences across tasks for each dependent variable. Total time, "on paper" time, "in air" time, speed, and number of characters per minute were recorded as the participants performed graded writing tasks. RESULTS: Non-proficient handwriters required significantly more time to perform handwriting tasks [F(4,91) = 14.83, p < .0001]; their "in air" time, was especially longer as compared to the proficient handwriters [F(4,91) = 13.63, p < .0001]. Their handwriting speed was slower [F(4,91) = 5.99, p < .0002], and they wrote fewer characters per minute (F(4,91) = 14.63, p < .0001). CONCLUSION: The use of a computerized handwriting system provides objective temporal measures of handwriting performance, and may lead to the development of additional tools for the evaluation and treatment of handwriting difficulties.

Agraphia↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Relationships among biomechanical ergonomic factors, handwriting product quality, handwriting efficiency, and computerized handwriting process measures in children with and without handwriting difficulties.

OBJECTIVES: Handwriting is a work activity for children, hence it may be evaluated based on ergonomic factors. This study investigated whether nonproficient handwriters could be distinguished by biomechanical ergonomic factors during handwriting, as well as by measures of handwriting efficiency. Furthermore, the relationships among ergonomic factors, handwriting quality, efficiency, and measures of the handwriting process were examined. METHODS: Fifty proficient and 50 nonproficient third-grade handwriters performed a handwriting task on an electronic tablet. Biomechanical ergonomic factors, measures of handwriting quality, and efficiency were rated using the Hebrew Handwriting Evaluation. Handwriting process measures were obtained from a computerized system. RESULTS: Biomechanical ergonomic factors and handwriting efficiency measures significantly differentiated between the study groups. Significant correlations were found among ergonomic factors and handwriting quality, efficiency, and process measures. CONCLUSION: Nonproficient handwriting is a work activity that is often characterized by inferior biomechanical ergonomics, handwriting quality, efficiency, and significantly different handwriting process measures. Results provide insights that can assist in planning intervention.

Biomechanical Phenomena↗