PubMed HealthSearch

SEARCH · PubMed Health

Results for “school functioning”

Explore indexed PubMed citations for clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health research. Read source abstracts and follow each citation to its original PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Photochemical air pollution: its effects on respiratory function of elementary school children.

The effects of photochemical air pollution on respiratory function of Tokyo elementary school children were investigated. Nine types of environmental factors were continuously recorded. Seven categories of respiratory function tests were performed on 20 normal 11-year-old children once a week from June to December 1972, as a general rule. The correlation coefficients between respiratory function measurements and each of the environmental factors were calculated. The maximum expiratory flow rate (V max) showed high correlation with the largest number of environmental factors. Among environmental factors, temperature highly affected various respiratory function tests. The O3 was significantly associated with airway resistance (Raw) or specific airway conductance (Gaw/Vtg), NO or NO2 with V max, and temperature with Raw, Gaw/Vtg, and V max. Two subjects among all subjects were considered as the reactors to the environmental factors.

Air Pollutants

Perceptual-motor functioning in children with phenylketonuria.

Children with treated phenylketonuria (PKU) have been described as being at high risk for perceptual-motor dysfunction. In this study, the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) and the Bender Gestalt test were administered to 19 school age children with treated PKU and of average intelligence who have been off diet from five months to six years four months. Perceptual-motor performance was evaluated, and school functioning was rated by classroom teachers. Substantial impairment of perceptual-motor functioning as measured by the Bender Gestalt test and lower WISC performance IQs than verbal IQs were observed in children of average intelligence. Quality of dietary control was found to be associated with performance on the Bender Gestalt test. These findings suggest the possibility of a specific deficit that could seriously interfere with academic progress, but which is not signalled by obvious impairment of overall intellectual functioning.

Achievement

The effects of fatigue, distractibility, and absenteeism on school achievement in children with rheumatic diseases.

Children with chronic health impairments have a variety of psychosocial, physical, and medical complications affecting daily life. This study investigated the relationship between the effects of a rheumatic disease (RD) and school functioning. Factors investigated were fatigue, distractibility, and absenteeism. In addition, disease severity and mobility were assessed. Forty-six children with RD and their parents participated in the study. Results indicated that inattention and distractibility were highly related to school achievement. A minimal relationship between fatigue and absenteeism and school performance was noted. In addition, ratings of mobility used by physicians were unrelated to success on math and reading achievement testing.

Absenteeism

The use of teacher checklists to identify children at risk for later behavioral and emotional problems.

Measures of child behavior based on teacher checklists have been shown to be reliable and valid indicators of a child's current school functioning. Such measures, however, are not very accurate predictors of behavior in other settings, or of the development of future behavior problems; they should not be used to label a child as "high risk." The primary care physician could help the teacher decide which children to refer for more thorough evaluation by providing the teacher with information on the child's development and neurologic status, home behavior, and family situation. Follow-up studies suggest that many behavioral disturbances seen in pre-school settings are transient situational disturbances that could be adequately managed through use of behavior modification techniques or simply through the passage of time.

Affective Symptoms

Self-concept, motivation, and competence among preschoolers from maltreating and comparison families.

Maltreated children are at risk for impaired cognitive and school functioning. In this study, the role that home environment, self-concept, and mastery motivation play in this relation was investigated. Thirty-six preschool children and their mothers, representing three family backgrounds (12 low-income maltreating, 12 low-income comparison, 12 middle-income comparison), were assessed in a preschool/home study. Children from maltreating families scored lower than their peers on several measures of cognitive and physical competence and on ratings of motivation. At the same time, these children significantly overrated their physical competence, and self-ratings of competence and acceptance tended to be higher (and less realistic) than those of their low-income peers. An overall difference in developmental quality of the home environment of maltreating families was largely accounted for by socioeconomic status (SES), but the tendency of these homes to be less clean and safe remained significant even after SES was controlled. Various aspects of the home environment were associated with superior task performance, but not with motivation or self-perceptions. Whereas the general home environment may affect competence, relationship factors implicated in maltreatment may be more important in shaping self-concept and motivation.

Achievement

Goodness of fit in the home: its relationship to school behavior and achievement in children with learning disabilities.

This study examined whether a "goodness of fit" theoretical model, applied to families with and without children with learning disabilities, would be valuable in understanding the children's performance in school. A home interview was conducted with 63 families with a child with learning disabilities and 53 families with a comparable child without learning disabilities. The mothers were asked to rate how their own child fit into the family's expectations for children. It was found that, for both groups of families, children who were rated as a "poor fit" in the home demonstrated less positive behavior in the classroom and poorer achievement over the elementary school years. There was some evidence that poor fit in the home was even more negatively related to outcomes for children with learning disabilities. Discussion is centered on the importance of this theoretical model for understanding the importance of the home on successful school function.

Achievement

Substance abuse among adolescents with chronic mental illnesses: a pilot study of descriptive and differentiating features.

Twenty-six adolescents with a chronic mental illness (schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder of at least 1.5 years' duration) were assessed for the presence or absence of comorbid substance abuse. The two groups were compared on a number of variables believed to identify or predict substance abuse. The substance abusing subgroup were significantly different in levels of social functioning, school achievement, premorbid substance abuse, having parents or siblings who abused substances, dysfunctional families, cigarette smoking, number of hospital admissions, and emergency room visits. These findings are discussed in the context of clinical issues regarding the management of adolescents with chronic mental illnesses.

Adolescent

[Dislocation of the elbow as a clinical problem with reference to rehabilitation].

In the period from 1970 till 1974, 106 patients with the clean luxation without the injury of the bone supstrate were treated. From that number there were 68 men and 38 women. In the total anaesthesia the reposition and imobilisation in the upper arm longeta were performed. This longeta was removed after three weeks and then the rehabilitation was continued (medical school). Functional results are neat.

Adolescent

Effects of indoor air pollution on lung function of primary school children in Kuala Lumpur.

In a cross-sectional study of 7-12 year-old primary school children in Kuala Lumpur city, lung function was assessed by spirometric and peak expiratory flow measurements. Spirometric and peak expiratory flow measurements were successfully performed in 1,214 and 1,414 children, respectively. As expected, the main predictors of forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), forced expiratory flow between 25% and 75% of vital capacity (FEF25-75), and peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) were standing height, weight, age, and sex. In addition, lung function values of Chinese and Malays were generally higher than those of Indians. In multiple regression models which included host and environmental factors, asthma was associated with significant decreases in FEV1, FEF25-75, and PEFR. However, family history of chest illness, history of allergies, low paternal education, and hospitalization during the neonatal period were not independent predictors of lung function. Children sharing rooms with adult smokers had significantly lower levels of FEF25-75. Exposures to wood or kerosene stoves were, but to mosquito repellents were not, associated with decreased lung function.

Air Pollutants

Moderate to heavy infections of Trichuris trichiura affect cognitive function in Jamaican school children.

A double-blind placebo trial was conducted to determine the effect of moderate to high loads of Trichuris trichiura (whipworm) infection on the cognitive functions of 159 school children (age 9-12 years) in Jamaica. Infected children were randomly assigned to Treatment or Placebo groups. A third group of randomly selected uninfected children were assigned to a Control for comparative purposes. The improvement in cognitive function was evaluated using a stepwise multiple linear regression, designed to control for any confounding variables. The expulsion of worms led to a significant improvement in tests of auditory short-term memory (P less than 0.02; P less than 0.01), and a highly significant improvement in the scanning and retrieval of long-term memory (P less than 0.001). After 9 weeks, treated children were no longer significantly different from an uninfected Control group in these three tests of cognitive function. The removal of T. trichiura was more important than Ascaris lumbricoides in determining this improvement. The results suggest that whipworm infection has an adverse effect on certain cognitive functions which is reversible by therapy.

Albendazole

Departmental review in medical schools: focus and functions.

Approximately two-thirds of all U.S. and Canadian medical schools have provisions for the evaluation of their departments on a periodic or ad hoc basis. Most of these institutions have initiated the departmental review process since 1970. It appears that use of the practice is increasing and is becoming an important tool in providing guidance for departmental activities, programs, and leadership. Departmental review may be conducted in a variety of ways with varying levels of intensity, flexibility, and skill, depending on the environment, resources, dean, department chairmen, faculty, and attitudes of university administrators. Departmental review may be employed to identify, elaborate, document, and/or contribute to the resolution of current and potential organizational concerns. When carefully administered, the process can be a stabilizing rather than a disruptive force; however, by itself, it does not solve major institutional problems.

Canada

Respiratory function in aboriginal school children.

Two hundred and three school-age Aboriginal children living on Cherbourg Aboriginal Settlement have had lung function tested with a dry spirometer. As with other non-Caucasian children, the forced vital capacity (FVC) was about 25% below values for Caucasian children, but the ratio between forced expiratory volume in one second and forced vital capacity (FEV1/FVC ratio), the mean mid-expiratory flow rate (MMEFR) and testing before and after a bronchodilator showed no evidence of widespread airways disease. Analysis of a subgroup of 126 children showed that birthweight, weight at one year of age, and current nutrition did not affect the level of the FVC.

Adolescent

Intellectual and functional status at school entry of children who weighed 1000 grams or less at birth: a regional perspective of births in the 1980s.

The intellectual and functional status of a regional cohort of children who weighed 501 to 1000 gm when born between 1980 and 1982 was evaluated at a mean age of 5 1/2 years by standard psychometric tests. Of 90 long-term survivors (survival rate 49%), 78 children (87%) had the full test battery, 5 children (6%) had other tests (4 were blind), and one child was untestable. Most of the mean scores were within 1 SD of the test norms; the lowest scores were in the McCarthy Motor scale and in the Beery Test of Visual-Motor Integration. Children without neurologic impairments and those with an IQ greater than or equal to 68 (n = 60) had higher overall scores but still performed poorly on the Motor subscale and the Beery test. Children who weighed less than 800 gm at birth (n = 28) were similar to those who weighed greater than 800 gm (n = 50), except in the Memory and Motor subscales, in which they performed significantly less well. At a functional level, determined by the Vineland Adaptive Behaviour Scales, two thirds of the children were performing in the adequate range and the remainder in the moderately low to low range. Of the 43 children with no neurosensory impairments and an IQ greater than or equal to 84, 49% were identified (by the Florida Kindergarten Screening Battery) to be at mild to high risk for future learning disabilities. The data from this unselected population provide an unbiased estimate of the prevalence of intellectual and functional problems in children who weighed less than or equal to 1000 gm at birth.

Anthropometry

Lung function in school-age children who had mild lower respiratory illnesses in early childhood.

We examined the relationship between patterns of mild lower respiratory illness (LRI) experienced in early childhood and lung function in 89 boys and 70 girls 6 to 18 yr of age. The children's histories of outpatient visits for wheezing and nonwheezing LRI during the first 6 yr of life had been documented by physicians in a single pediatric practice. Most children were reported by their parents to have been free of recurrent respiratory symptoms during the 2 yr prior to lung function testing. In sex-specific analyses, average lung function assessed by spirometry was similar in children who had made zero or one physician visit for wheezing LRI during the preschool years. Boys who had experienced two or more episodes of wheezing LRI during the preschool years had lower average FEV1, FEV1/FVC, FEF25-75, Vmax50, and Vmax75 than did boys who had zero or one preschool wheezing illness. The association between recurrent preschool wheezing LRI and later lung function remained after exclusion of data from seven boys who were reported to have wheezed in the 2 yr prior to study. Girls who had experienced two or more preschool wheezing LRI had lower average FEF25-75 and Vmax50 than girls with a history of zero or one such illness, but differences were not statistically significant. Recurrent nonwheezing LRI during the preschool years was not significantly associated with subsequent lung function in either sex, regardless of preschool wheezing LRI history. Detailed information concerning early childhood LRI experience is valuable in epidemiologic studies of factors influencing lung function in children.

Adolescent