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Biomedical subjects

C Sundelin

Publications and source records attributed to C Sundelin.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed2000

Can severe language disability be identified in three-year-olds? Evaluation of a routine screening procedure.

This study evaluates the predictability of a new language screening procedure in 3-y-olds. It is used in several Child Health Centres (CHC) in Sweden and has the character of a field study involving more than 60 CHC nurses. The main questions concern the (i) development in 3-y-olds assessed as severely language delayed and (ii) whether there are any earlier unknown severely disabled children identified at 4 y of age. Ninety-six percent of the original study population participated in the follow-up. The calculations are based on results from 2237 children. A well-established screening routine, which has been shown capable of predicting the risk of not being able to follow expected schooling, and case records were used as an acceptable proxy outcome measure, pending a better gold standard. In the group of severely disabled 3-y-olds, sensitivity, specificity and positive predictive values were 86, 99 and 43%, respectively. Finally, three false-negatives were identified. In light of the present results, continued application of the 3-y screening is discussed.

Child, Preschool↗
PubMed2000

Impact of child health centre organization on parental satisfaction.

The aim of this study is to describe differences in parental satisfaction with child health services under different organizational arrangements. The study had a cross-sectional design and was based on 3 largely identical surveys, involving 60 questions, performed in 1970, 1988 and 1993. The original questionnaire was developed by one of the authors in 1970. The present study analyses responses to 5 demographic questions and 12 questions regarding the content of child health services, evaluating parental satisfaction with these services. The study population in 1970 consisted of 443 parents (93% of those invited to participate) with children 6-18 months old, 1008 (82%) in 1988 and 1071 (80%) in 1993. Parents expressed more satisfaction with child health services in 1970 and 1993 compared to 1988. This pattern is not attributable to macro-level societal changes, but corresponds to changes in the organization of child health care services over the study period. The results highlight the vital question of how child health care should be organized in order to satisfy parents. The quality of child health care and parental satisfaction depend in part on the style of organization, including how much nurses with 'first-line' contacts focus on paediatric services.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Effects of group motor skill intervention on five- to six-year-old children with developmental coordination disorder.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether group motor skill intervention is an effective form of treatment when added to consultative services in 5- to 6-year-old children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD). An experimental group of DCD children (n = 17) was compared with a DCD control group without intervention (n = 20). The intervention was conducted once a week for 10 weeks. No significant differences between the groups in either Movement ABC motor test or the Movement ABC checklist were found before or after this intervention. When subgroups with different categories of motor difficulties were compared, significantly more children with borderline motor difficulties in the experimental group than in the control group had changed (improved) their category after intervention. It is concluded that children with definite motor difficulties do not benefit from this type of intervention. Future research should include comparison of well-defined subgroups of children with DCD.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1999

Child health service's response to early feeding and behaviour problems: changes in parental perceptions 1970-93.

OBJECTIVE: This health systems study was done to measure changes over time concerning parents' perceptions of feeding and behavioural problems in children 6-18 mo of age, parents' willingness to use child health services and their evaluation of the advice received. METHOD: The study had a repetitive cross-sectional design. Three largely identical surveys were performed in 1970, 1988 and 1993. Questionnaires were sent to a random sample of all parents of children 6-18 mo living in Uppsala, Sweden. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The frequency of different perceived feeding and/or behavioural problems was stable or declined between 1970 and 1988, but increased in 1993. For most problems, inclination to seek help and perceived benefit of advice decreased between 1970 and 1988, but increased again in 1993. The parents sought more help and perceived the advice they received as more beneficial when the service was in the hands of paediatric nurses (1970) or of district nurses focusing on the care of infants and preschool children (1993) than when the district nurses also had responsibilities for adults and the elderly (1988). No correlation was seen with societal and sociodemographic trends. Although the cross-sectional (hence non-experimental) design of the study makes it impossible to prove causality, the findings suggest that parents' willingness to use the child health service and their evaluation of that service may depend in part on organization, including the degree to which nurses with "first-line" contacts are focused on paediatric services.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Early identification of children with communication disabilities--evaluation of a screening programme in a Swedish county.

OBJECTIVE: The aim was to evaluate the effectiveness of an early screening programme for communicative disturbances in relation to the health status of the child at the age of 4 years. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A case-control study including 705 cases and 2451 controls was performed. RESULTS: Cases with communication disorders as well as other types of disabilities at 4 years of age showed a higher frequency of deviant screening results on each screening occasion. The sensitivity for the screening programme amounted to 24.8%, the specificity was 95.5% and the positive predictive value was 61.2%.

Autistic Disorder↗
PubMed1996

Information through television: does it promote child safety?

OBJECTIVES: First, to evaluate whether a local campaign to prevent childhood injuries increased parents' inclination to follow eight television programmes broadcast nationwide, and second, to assess whether parents reached by a local campaign benefitted more from the television programmes than those not reached by the campaign. METHODS: Before the television programmes were broadcast, all families with preschool children living in a typical Swedish municipality (the intervention area) received a letter from the head of the child health services encouraging them to watch the programmes. The local campaign also included face-to-face information and advice on childhood injuries at all day care centres and child health centres in the intervention area. After all the programmes had been broadcast, telephone interviews were conducted with one parent from 77% of all 1699 households with at least one preschool child in the intervention area, and with 87% of a random sample of 144 parents from other, similar municipalities. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The local campaign increased parents' inclination to follow the programmes. No significant association was found, however, between the number of programmes followed and measures undertaken in the homes as a direct consequence of the programmes. Nor was a significant association found between the number of programmes viewed and parents' attitudes towards risks. A local campaign may increase parents' awareness of information provided by the mass media on childhood injuries.

Accident Prevention↗
PubMed1995

Characteristics of school children who are choosy eaters.

Choosiness, manifested in refusal of foods, eating little, and disinterest in food, was studied with regard to prevalence, stability, sociodemographic characteristics, health problems, weight, and associated problem behaviors in a sample of 240 Swedish primary school children. Questionnaires were used, and data on sociodemographic variables, health problems, weight, and height were collected from child health-care and school health records. Choosiness was present in one third of the children, but only 8% showed choosy behavior both at home and in school. The choosy children had no more health problems than others, nor were they significantly thinner. Choosiness was not related to gender, social class, or ethnic background. The choosy children had modestly elevated levels of externalizing, hyperactive, and internalizing behavior. The choosy children with a history of refusal to eat in infancy or preschool age had more pronounced choosy behavior and had more problem behaviors than the other choosy children. Choosiness can not easily be categorized within an eating disorders or main problem syndromes of childhood frame of reference.

Child↗
PubMed1994

Children with early refusal to eat: follow-up during primary school.

Twenty-five children, previously investigated at 3-12 months of age for refusal to eat for at least four weeks with no apparent medical cause, have been followed-up prospectively with respect to feeding characteristics, general behaviour, somatic health and growth. In the present study, 18 of these children, still resident in Uppsala, were reinvestigated during the primary school period. Comparisons were made with 240 classmates. Information was obtained from school health records and from questionnaires completed by teachers and parents concerning the children's current eating behaviour and general behaviour. Compared with the controls, the children who refused to eat at an early age presented more eating problems both at home (p < 0.01) and at school (p < 0.01), but were not different with respect to general behaviour, somatic health or growth. We conclude that children with previous periods of refusal to eat continue to show problematic eating behaviour, not only at home but also at school.

Body Height↗
PubMed1994

Growing up in Uppsala: the "new morbidity" in the adolescent period. A longitudinal epidemiological study based on school data and some external sources.

The study comprised all 1805 children, most born in 1967, who were in grade 9 of the compulsory school in Uppsala in the spring of 1983 (cross-sectional population) and all 1723 children born in 1967 and resident in Uppsala at ages 10 and 15 years (longitudinal population). The aims were (1) to describe and analyse a normal population of 9th graders in social, medical, educational and psychological respects, (2) to assess relationships between risk level at 10 years, school-identified difficulties at 15 years and psychosocial problems up to age 18, (3) to assess relationships between intervention in school at 15 years and psychosocial problems up to 18 years. Ten-year data had been collected through teacher interviews and analysis of school health records in grade 3. Fifteen-year data were collected through interviews with school health staff and analysis of school health records in grade 9. School marks were gathered at the end of grade 9. Psychosocial problems up to 18 years were assessed on the basis of all registered contacts with official institutions outside school (authorities for care of the handicapped, Department of Child Psychiatry, social agencies, legal authorities). CROSS-SECTIONAL POPULATION. Children older than the grade norm and children of lower social class manifested a more problematic school adjustment and had lower mean marks than younger children and those of higher social classes. Twenty-five per cent of the population had entries in official registers up to age 18, indicating psychosocial problems. Social conditions were related both to the learning process and to psychological health. Educational and psychological problems were mutually correlated. Social problems increased the risk of a number of medical conditions. There were certain relationships between medical and educational problems as well as between medical and psychological problems. LONGITUDINAL POPULATION. Both 10- and 15-year data, particularly the latter, contributed independently to the prediction of psychosocial problems up to age 18. There was a considerably increased risk of psychosocial problems if there had been numerous school difficulties at age 15. Children who had been offered intervention in school at 15 years did not escape psychosocial problems up to 18 years more frequently than children without interventions. In fact, the contrary was the case: with more interventions, the frequencies of psychosocial problems up to age 18 increased.

Adolescent↗