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Biomedical subjects

B Ellertsen

Publications and source records attributed to B Ellertsen.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Behavior in term, small for gestational age preschoolers.

AIMS: To evaluate whether being born small for gestational age (SGA) was associated with an increased frequency of preschool behavioral problems. STUDY DESIGN: Follow-up study at 5 years of age. SUBJECTS: A population based cohort of 318 term infants who were SGA, defined as having a birthweight less than the 15th percentile for gestational age, and without major handicap such as cerebral palsy or mental retardation, and a random control sample of 307 appropriate for gestational age (AGA) infants. OUTCOME MEASURES: The Personality Inventory for Children and the Yale Children's Inventory (completed by the mothers), and child behavior during psychometric testing. RESULTS: Behavior problems was not more common among the SGA children. The results were not confounded by a wide range of parental demographic and child rearing factors, including maternal non-verbal problem solving abilities, child rearing style, and maternal psychological distress. However, the parental factors explained 13% of the variance in a summary score of child behavior compared to 1% explained by SGA vs. AGA status. The SGA children were not more sensitive to the negative impacts of parental risk factors than AGA controls. The study does not address the outcome of severely growth-retarded SGA infants. CONCLUSION: Being born moderately SGA is not a significant risk factor for preschool behavior problems.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Relationships between physical findings (GPE-78) and psychological profiles (MMPI-2) in patients with long-lasting musculoskeletal pain.

The purpose of the study was to evaluate possible relationships between physical findings, as measured with the Global Physiotherapeutic Examination (GPE-78), and psychological characteristics, as measured with the revised Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-2), in three groups of patients with long-lasting musculoskeletal pain. A total of 177 patients (114 women, 63 men), sick-listed owing to long-lasting musculoskeletal pain, were studied. The sample was subcategorized on the basis of pain localization, as marked on a pain drawing: group 1 = pain above a horizontal line in the thoracic-lumbar region (n = 24); group 2 = pain below the line (n = 48); group 3 = pain both above and below the line (n = 105). The GPE-78 consists of 78 standardized tests yielding quantitative information within five bodily domains: Posture, Movement, Muscle, Skin, and Respiration. Significant correlations were obtained between the GPE-78 and the MMPI-2 with regard to somatization, somatic concern, and depression. Patients with localized pain (groups 1 and 2) had few correlations between bodily findings and psychological problems compared with many inpatients with generalized pain (group 3). Women showed correlations between the domains Posture, Movement, and Muscle and psychological problems, whereas men showed correlations with Movement, Skin and Respiration. A psychosomatic MMPI-2 "V-profile" was present in groups 1 and 3. Women showed significantly higher scores than men. The relationships found between GPE-78 and MMPI-2 measures were significant, but findings differed depending on pain localization and sex. Patients with generalized pain had significantly more physical and psychological aberrations than patients with more localized pain.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Personality profiles and heart rate variability (vagal tone) in children with recurrent abdominal pain.

UNLABELLED: The aim of the study was to explore psychological factors and autonomic activity in children with recurrent abdominal pain and to compare them with those in a control group of healthy children. The Personality Inventory for Children was used for assessment of developmental, emotional and psychosocial factors in 25 children with recurrent abdominal pain (age, 7-15 y). Parasympathetic and sympathetic functions in these children and in 23 healthy control subjects (age, 7-13 y) were also investigated, non-invasively using a computerized polygraph. Vagal tone (parasympathetic function) was indexed by calculation of respiratory sinus arrhythmia in beats/min. Skin conductance (sympathetic function) was recorded by the constant current method. On the Personality Inventory for Children, 16 patients had high scores on somatic concern. Several patients had scores in the clinical range for depression, withdrawal and anxiety, but the mean scores for these personality profile scales were well within the normal range of healthy children. Interestingly, there was a spike on the L (Lie)-scale for most of the patients and 15 patients had scores above or close to the clinical cut-off value. As compared with the scores in healthy children, vagal tone and sympathetic tone were normal. CONCLUSION: Many children with recurrent abdominal pain have scores in the clinical range for depression, withdrawal, anxiety and L-scale indicating coping problems, denial and a trend towards somatic concern that may contribute to the evolution of abdominal pain. Autonomic nerve activity was not disturbed in these children.

Abdominal Pain↗
PubMed2000

Cognitive development of term small for gestational age children at five years of age.

AIM: To assess the relative significance for cognitive development of small for gestational age, parental demographic factors, and factors related to the child rearing environment. METHODS: IQ of a population based cohort of 338 term infants who were small for gestational age (SGA) and without major handicap, and a random control sample of 335 appropriate for gestational age (AGA) infants were compared at 5 years of age. RESULTS: The mean non-verbal IQ was four points lower, while the mean verbal IQ was three points lower for the children in the SGA group. The results were not confounded by parental demographic or child rearing factors. However, parental factors, including maternal non-verbal problem solving abilities, and child rearing style, accounted for 20% of the variance in non-verbal IQ, while SGA versus AGA status accounted for only 2%. The comparable numbers for verbal IQ were 30 and 1%. Furthermore, we found no evidence that the cognitive development of SGA children was more sensitive to a non-optimal child rearing environment than that of AGA children. Maternal smoking at conception was associated with a reduction in mean IQ comparable to that found for SGA status, and this effect was the same for SGA and AGA children. The cognitive function of asymmetric SGA was comparable to that of symmetric SGA children. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that child cognitive development is strongly associated with parental factors, but only marginally associated with intrauterine growth retardation.

Case-Control Studies↗
PubMed1998

Neuropsychological performance in low birth weight preschoolers: a population-based, controlled study.

UNLABELLED: The aim was to evaluate neuropsychological performance and its pre-, and perinatal predictors in low birth weight (LBW) preschool children. A population-based sample of 137 5-year-old children with birth weights less than 2000 g and without major handicaps was compared with a random sample of 152 normal birth weight term controls. Main assessment tools were all subscales from the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence Revised, subscales from the Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities and tests of manual dexterity and figure copying. The LBW children showed significantly lower mean scores compared to controls on tests of visuo-spatial and visuo-motor abilities, but were comparable to controls in other areas, confounding parental factors were controlled for. 14 of the LBW children, there were signs of maternal chorio-amnionitis. Twelve of these had premature rupture of membranes lasting more than 24 h. These 14 children had a mean performance IQ of 87 (SD 5) compared to 100 (SD 15) for the LBW children without maternal signs of chorio-amnionitis (P = 0.001). Having a small head circumference at birth was a less powerful, but statistically significant predictor of impaired performance. CONCLUSION: Low birth weight is associated with impaired performance on visuo-spatial and visuo-motor tasks. Signs of maternal chorio-amnionitis and a small head circumference at birth may be risk factors for such impairment.

Case-Control Studies↗
PubMed1997

MMPI profiles in post-lumbar puncture headache.

From the original material of 300 patients, of whom 37.3% had experienced a post-lumbar puncture headache (PPH), a total of 20 males and 50 females were evaluated with the Minnesota Multiple Personality Inventory (MMPI). The test was administered on average 33 months after the lumbar puncture (range 13-51), at a time when anxiety and depression related to the original investigation for a possible organic neurologic disease were expected to affect the results minimally. In the present material PPH was experienced by 45.7% of the patients, 40% of the males, and 48% of the females. Patients without PPH were used as controls. The selected material was a representative sample of the original material both as to distribution of age, proportion of organic diagnoses, and frequency of PPH. The MMPI disclosed no statistically significant differences between PPH patients and controls regarding personality traits.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Neuropsychological deficits in HIV-1 seropositive and seronegative intravenous drug users (IVDUs): a follow-up study.

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) seropositive AIDS free and HIV-1 seronegative intravenous drug users were tested twice with a comprehensive neuropsychological test battery. Only minor group differences were found. Memory difficulties were the most pronounced difference with lower scores in the HIV-1 seropositive group. The memory difficulties were to some degree associated with emotional difficulties, that is, anxiety. The HIV-1 seropositive subjects were tested a third time and there was no further decline in any test with memory content at this testing. The only test that showed a significant decline in the HIV-1 seropositive group was the Trail Making Test.

AIDS Dementia Complex↗
PubMed1996

Behavioral problems in low-birthweight preschoolers.

Preschool behavior of a population-based sample of 144 5-year-old children with birthweights less than 2000g (LBW) was compared with a random sample of 163 normal-birthweight term controls. The Personality Inventory for Children and the Yale Children's Inventory were completed by the mothers, and child behavior during psychometric testing was assessed. Nineteen per cent of the LBW children compared to 4% of controls had behavioral problems as defined by abnormal scores on more than three behavioral measures. The LBW children were more often socially insecure, anxious and difficult to manage, but inattention and hyperactivity were not prominent. The LBW children were not more sensitive to the negative impact of parental risk factors than normal-birthweight children.

Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity↗
PubMed1996

Transient dystonia in non-handicapped low-birthweight infants and later neurodevelopment.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the long-term prognostic significance of transient increase in muscle tone during infancy (dystonia) in very low-birthweight (VLBW) infants without cerebral palsy. Motor (Peabody Developmental Motor Scales), cognitive (Wechsler Preschool and Primary scale of Intelligence) and behavioural (Personality Inventory for Children, Yale Children's Inventory) development was assessed at 5 years of age. In a population-based sample of 50 VLBW children, transient dystonia was present in 14. In explorative analyses, transient dystonia was associated with low 1 min Apgar scores, neonatal bacterial infection, and lack of breast-milk in the neonatal period. Cognitive, neuromotor and behavioural development at 5 years of age was comparable in those with and without transient dystonia, although there was a statistically non-significant tendency towards more neuromotor problems in the dystonic children.

Apgar Score↗
PubMed1996

Low birthweight and neuromotor development: a population based, controlled study.

The aims of the study were to investigate: (a) the relationship between low birthweight (LBW) and pre-school neuromotor development; and (b) the predictive value of various pre-, peri-, and neonatal factors for neuromotor development in LBW pre-school children. A population based sample of 144 5-year-old LBW children (birthweight < 2000 g) with no major handicaps was compared with a random sample of 163 normal birthweight term controls. Using the Peabody Developmental Motor Scales, impaired performance on the balance scale was seen more often in LBW boys than in controls (odds ratio 5.5, 95% CI 1.5-20.3), while performance on the eye-hand coordination and locomotor scales was comparable for the two groups. LBW girls were comparable to controls on all these scales. On neurological examination, an increased frequency of minor neurological signs was found in LBW boys, while increased ankle tone and/or leg hyperreflexia was more common in LBW girls compared to controls. Small head circumference at birth was associated with an increased frequency of minor neurological signs in LBW boys, and lack of breastmilk in the neonatal period with impaired balance in LBW boys. None of the other pre-, peri- or neonatal factors were predictive of neuromotor development. We conclude that motor functions essential for daily activities are intact in most LBW preschoolers.

Child Development↗
PubMed1995

Parental factors in cognitive outcome of non-handicapped low birthweight infants.

A population based cohort of 144 children weighing less than 2000 g who were without major handicap, and a random control sample of 163 children born at term and weighing over 3000 g were investigated. The aim was to assess the relative importance for cognitive development at 5 years of age, of birthweight, parental demographic factors, and factors related to the environment in which the child was reared. The mean non-verbal IQ was 6.1 points lower (95% CI, 2.3 to 10) for the low birthweight (LBW) group, but the difference was reduced to 4.8 points (95% CI, 1.1 to 8.5) after adjusting for confounding parental demographic and childrearing factors. The verbal IQ was similar for the two groups after such adjustment. Paternal education was the main confounding variable, and demographic factors such as parental education and family income were much stronger predictors of child IQ than birthweight or factors related to the childrearing environment. There was no evidence that the cognitive development of low birthweight children was more sensitive to a non-optimal childrearing environment than that of normal birthweight children. These findings indicate that the risk of impaired cognitive development increases with decreasing socioeconomic status, and that this risk is much larger than, and independent of, the small risk attributable to low birthweight.

Case-Control Studies↗
PubMed1994

Psychological difficulties related to human immunodeficiency virus-1 infection in intravenous drug users.

Psychopathology and emotional changes were examined over a 9-month period in this study of human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) infection in seronegative and seropositive intravenous drug users. The HIV-1-seropositive group showed more psychological difficulties and emotional distress at both testings. For the HIV-1-seronegative subjects, a trend for less psychopathology and psychological distress was found. At the second testing, the difference between groups was increased due to improvement of the HIV-1-seronegative group. A more chronic course of psychological distress was found in the HIV-1-seropositive group.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

[Fibromyalgia--a relationship between psyche and soma?].

Fibromyalgia is regarded a state of pain that can both be triggered and maintained by a broad spectre of events, ranging from massive psychogenic stress to long-lasting excessive somatic strain. Based on a review of selected studies supported by the Norwegian Medical Research Council, this paper focuses on muscular exercise and related pain, the functional significance of certain neuropeptides, the contribution of the sympathetic nervous system and the psychological aspects of the condition.

Fibromyalgia↗
PubMed1993

Neuropsychological deficits in HIV-1 seropositive and seronegative intravenous drug users.

A battery of neuropsychological tests was administered to detoxified HIV-1 seropositive and seronegative intravenous drug users. There were few problems related to administering the test battery to the groups in question. Of the total sample, 28% obtained an Halstead-Reitan Impairment Index > .4, indicating central nervous system deficits. Both groups performed below comparable normative levels on the variables studied. The HIV-1 infection per se could not explain the neuropsychological impairment.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Personality and behaviour in eight-year-old, non-handicapped children with birth weight under 1500 g.

Personality and behavioural characteristics of a population-based cohort of 29 very low-birth-weight (VLBW) infants were compared with those of 29 matched, term controls at eight years of age. The VLBW infants were born to families of lower socioeconomic status (p = 0.04) and had a lower mean IQ (93 versus 104, p = 0.008) and motor abilities (p = 0.028). Based on the questionnaire personality inventory for children, the VLBW children had more learning difficulties and school coping problems, and the VLBW boys had more conduct and emotional problems than the controls. Except for conduct problems, these differences persisted after controlling for socioeconomic status. Generally, there were significant relationships between behaviour, IQ and motor abilities. In conclusion, VLBW may be a risk factor for the development of school coping and behavioural problems independent of socioeconomic status but often coexist with impaired cognitive and neuromotor function.

Case-Control Studies↗
PubMed1992

MMPI profiles.

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Facial Pain↗