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Biomedical subjects

A Hallum

Publications and source records attributed to A Hallum.

13 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1995

Disability and the transition to adulthood: issues for the disabled child, the family, and the pediatrician.

The pediatrician treating a child with a disability must focus not only on the physical needs of the child but also on the emotional and social issues associated with being disabled in our society. This dual focus becomes increasingly important as the child matures through adolescence and transitions into adulthood. In addition, the pediatrician must understand the complex interrelationships between the family and their maturing, disabled child during the vital process of separation from the family. This transition is particularly difficult for an adolescent who is dependent on others for physical care and other independent living skills. Many of the transitional problems faced by disabled adolescents and their parents have roots in early childhood. With an awareness of the specific stressors on the parent caregivers and an understanding of the influence of disability on the developmental processes, the pediatrician can play a major role in easing the transition of a disabled adolescent into adulthood. By guiding the parents of a young child through the important tasks of childhood and adolescence, the pediatrician can set the stage for both the parents and their disabled child to have independent, yet supportive lives--lives that are focused not on the disability but on mutual respect and life satisfaction. It is recommended that disabled teens and young adults be given more help in independence skills, personal counseling services should be made available, and physicians should give teens age-appropriate information about disabilities. There are needs for sex education, preparation for parenthood, and genetic counseling. Other issues that should be addressed are early vocational awareness, alternatives to work, and leisure time use. Just because an adolescent is disabled, we cannot assume that he or she will have self-esteem and self-concept difficulties. To adjust to being devalued by society, the disabled person must challenge societal beliefs that strength, independence, and appearance are the essential aspects of a quality life. The importance of being kind, intelligent, and productive to one's capacity must become more important. (See Table 3 for additional resource information.)

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1993

Parents caring for young adults with severe physical disabilities: psychological issues.

The authors studied the psychological aspects for parents of caring for a young adult with severe physical disabilities. Mothers reported significantly more caregiving stress than fathers; a major factor was the persistent limitations in their personal life opportunities and choices at a time when most parents experience freedom from caregiving responsibilities. Contrary to the assumptions of health-care professionals, the parents indicated that they were more anxious than depressed about their future options and their child's quality of care and future living circumstances. There was no major psychopathology and a review of high scores on the scale of Psychoticism and Paranoia indicated that the parents' responses were a reflection of realistic isolation and lack of trust in professional and agency-based relationships.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1993

Are there good ways to give 'bad news'?

There has been considerable speculation about the inevitability of parental dissatisfaction with being informed about their child's disability. Mothers and fathers of 24 infants with a recently diagnosed disability were interviewed regarding their preferences for how to be told the "bad news." Qualitative analyses revealed nine themes of parental preferences for how to communicate difficult information. Parents affirmed communication themes previously discussed in the literature, such as being told early and together, and identified new ones, such as affective tone and physical contact with their baby. The importance of these themes is presented for this sample. Recommendations for how to present "bad news" can be concisely drawn from these findings. Results suggest that parental dissatisfaction with the process of telling is not inevitable.

Humans↗
PubMed1987

Reading comprehension performance and laterality: evidence for concurrent validity of dichotic, dichhaptic and EEG laterality measures.

EEGs were recorded while 55 boys read and answered questions about passages. Concurrent validity between parietal alpha ratios obtained from these recordings and dichotic/dichhaptic scores supports their utility as measures of lateral processing. The evidence was particularly strong between right hand advantage for dichhaptically presented sequential patterns and left hemispheric activity while answering. Results also indicate that coefficients for dichotically presented digits and alpha ratios during silent reading are indices of receptive laterality and measure the deployment of lateral structures rather than degree of structural laterality. This supports a dynamic rather than static model of lateral processing during receptive language.

Alpha Rhythm↗
PubMed1987

Effects of approximation on postural sway in healthy subjects.

The effect of approximation on the postural sway of healthy subjects wearing a weighted belt around their pelvis was measured. Twenty subjects between the ages of 23 and 30 years stood on a polyurethane foam platform that amplified their postural sway and were filmed from a lateral view. All subjects wore markers over their mandibles, hips, and knees and were filmed three times with the weighted belt worn on a randomly selected trial. Frames from a 10-second interval of film from each trial were studied, and the summed displacement at each bony landmark between each frame of film was calculated. A significant decrease in displacement at the mandible (p less than .02) was found when the weighted belt was worn. The decrease in displacement was not significant at the hip or knee. Approximation was shown to decrease the postural sway of healthy subjects. Further study is indicated to investigate the effect of approximation on patient populations.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Development of the lateral equilibrium reaction in stance.

The lateral equilibrium reaction in stance was assessed in 80 normally developing children aged from nine months to five years. A scoring system and checklist were devised to describe the character and presence of the reaction. The earliest non-functional response was seen at nine months of age, and no functional response was observed to both sides until after two years of age. A progressive increase in functional response to both directions of tilt occurred between 12 and 18 months, with an unexpected drop at 21 and 24 months. All three-year-old and five-year-old children demonstrated a functional response to both sides. The lower extremity pattern was the most consistent component observed in those with a functional response. Individual variations in movements of the trunk, upper extremities and head excluded any indication of developmental patterns for these body segments. The clinical implications of these results are discussed.

Child Development↗
PubMed1985

Normal ranges of hip motion of infants between nine and 24 months of age.

The means and standard deviations were obtained for hip extension limitation, internal rotation, external rotation and abduction at nine, 12, 18 and 24 months of age from a sample of 86 normal, healthy children. Statistically significant changes were found for three of the four motions tested. Hip extension limitation decreased from 10 degrees at nine months to 3 degrees at 24 months. At nine months external rotation was greater than internal rotation in all cases, but with increasing age the mean values for the two motions began to approximate each other. There was a statistically significant positive correlation between infants with the greatest hip extension limitation and the degree of external rotation. There was also a significant negative correlation between the least hip extension limitation and greater abduction.

Child Development↗
PubMed1984

Physicians' and physical therapists' evaluations of cerebral-palsied children for Achilles tendon lengthening.

Ten orthopedic surgeons and 10 physical therapists working with spastic cerebral-palsied children were interviewed about the evaluation process they used to assess surgical lengthening of the achilles tendon. Objective and subjective considerations were described and wide variations in responses were found. No single evaluation criterion or subjective factor was mentioned by the majority of either group. In addition, the extent of interprofessional collaboration in presurgical assessment was described. Those respondents who consulted with other health professionals closely agreed about the purpose of the consultation. It is concluded clinicians need to identify more precisely the essential components of the evaluation process for this type of surgery.

Achilles Tendon↗
PubMed1984

Changes in popliteal angle measurement in infants up to one year of age.

The purpose of this study was to determine trends in the changes of the popliteal angle in 130 normal infants between one day and 12 months of age, for use in assessing infants with possible neuromuscular pathology. Using a 360 degree goniometer, the popliteal angle was measured with the hip held at 90 degree flexion, to indicate hamstring-muscle tightness. Limitation of knee extension was also measured with the hip extended (HEKE angle) to indicate capsular tightness. Both the popliteal and HEKE angle measurements showed greatest limitation of knee extension at birth, which decreased until eight months of age, when most infants showed no limitation. A highly significant negative correlation was found between age and mean popliteal and HEKE angles.

Anthropometry↗
PubMed1983

EMG activity of the vastus medialis oblique and the vastus lateralis in their role in patellar alignment.

Using intramuscular electrodes the integrated electromyographic activity of the vastus medialis oblique and the vastus lateralis was examined in twenty normal females. The activity was recorded during the last thirty degrees of distal segment stabilized knee extension, when patellar subluxation commonly occurs. The electromyographic activity was normalized and expressed as a percentage of a maximal isometric contraction. Both muscles exhibited low levels of activity with no significant differences between the two. This study provides a quantitative method to assess whether muscular imbalance is present in patients with patellar subluxation.

Adult↗