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Biomedical subjects

E Kruger

Publications and source records attributed to E Kruger.

30 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1997

Changes in self-reported dental anxiety in New Zealand adolescents from ages 15 to 18 years.

Little is understood of the natural history of dental anxiety. The aim of this study was to examine three-year changes in self-reported dental anxiety among adolescent participants in the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study. Dental anxiety was estimated at ages 15 and 18 by means of the Corah Dental Anxiety Scale (DAS). A DAS score of 13+ defined high dental anxiety. Participants were assigned to one of four dental-anxiety study groups (Chronic, Incident, Remitted, or Never) on the basis of changes in reported level of anxiety from ages 15 to 18. Results are reported for the 691 participants who completed the DAS at both ages. The sample's overall dental anxiety score decreased significantly from age 15 (mean, 8.79) to 18 (8.52) (paired t test, t = 2.37; P < 0.05). The Chronic and Never groups had small negative DAS increments, the Incident group showed a substantial positive increment, and the Remitted group recorded an even larger negative increment. Multivariate analysis showed that the DAS score at age 15 was the sole predictor of the change in DAS score for the Chronic and Remitted groups, and was a co-predictor for the Incident and Never groups. An episodic dental visiting pattern was a strong predictor of a positive change in DAS score for the Incident group; and for the Never group, a higher DMFS score at age 15 predicted a positive change in DAS score at 18, but being female was predictive of a decrement. This study indicates lower stability of dental anxiety in late adolescence than has been reported from other age groups.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Dental status of rural school children in a sub-optimal fluoride area.

Past investigations by us have shown high levels of caries experience in rural coloured school children of the Western Cape. These studies were all undertaken in fluoride poor areas. In contrast studies of children in areas with optimal and higher concentrations of fluoride in their drinking water have shown lower DMFT scores. On a previous visit to the town of Fraserburg in the North Western Cape we observed fluorosis in children, although the fluoride content of the municipal drinking water was sub-optimal (0.68-0.78 ppm F-). The purpose of this study was therefore to measure the dental status of 6, 12 and 15 year old school children using the dmft, DMFT and Dean's Fluorosis Index according to the 1987 WHO guidelines. The examinations were done by two calibrated examiners using portable equipment. Results showed low mean dmft values of 3.31 +/- 3.90 and 0.22 +/- 0.86 for the 6 and 12 year olds respectively. The corresponding DMFT scores including that for 15 year olds were 0.08 +/- 0.35; 1.45 +/- 1.81 and 1.00 +/- 1.60 respectively and no significant statistical gender differences were observed (p>0.05). The mean fluorosis scores for 6, 12 and 15 year olds were 1.68 +/- 1.05; 2.78 +/- 1.34 and 2.90 +/- 1.58 respectively. For both the 12 and 15 year olds the severity of fluorosis ranged from no fluorosis to severe mottling and corrosion. It can be concluded that the results even at a sub-optimal fluoride level show a high similarity to the dental status of children in rural fluoride rich areas. Defluoridation of the Fraserburg municipal drinking water therefore becomes imperative and a concentration of 0.4 ppm F- is suggested. Furthermore the children have no access to dental services and this has led to accumulated needs which demand urgent addressing.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1976

Some data on establishing a specific-pathogen-free guinea pig colony.

Detailed procedures for the germfree delivery of guinea pigs using a "dry hysterectomy" technic were given; 320 animals were alive after hysterectomy, but there was a subsequent loss of 37% of the animals, mainly during the first and second weeks. Their specific-pathogen-free maintenance, feeding, and association with an anerobic flora were described. Feeding 3 times a day vs twice a day decreased mortality from 48% to 20%.

Animal Feed↗
PubMed1975

Effect of long-term treatment of hyperactive children with methylphenidate.

SUMMARY: Three groups of hyperactive children were compared by various measures of outcome 5 years after initial evaluation: 24 who were treated with methylphenidate for 3 to 5 years during the follow-up period, 22 treated with chlorpromazine for 18 months to 5 years, and 20 who had received no medication during the follow-up period. The three groups were matched with respect to age, IQ, socioeconomic class and sex. No statistically significant differences were found between the three groups on the following measures of outcome: emotional adjustment, delinquency, Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Bender Gestalt visual-motor test and academic performance (as measured by number of grades failed). Initially there was a significant difference between the three groups on ratings of hyperactivity and family diagnosis. Hyperactivity scores decreased significantly over the 5 years; family diagnosis ratings changed little. Analysis of covariance for these two measures showed no difference in degree of improvement between the three groups. Our impression was that methylphenidate was helpful in making hyperactive children more manageable at home and at school, but did not significantly affect their outcome after 5 years of treatment.

Child↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Socio-economic and behavioural risk factors for tooth loss from age 18 to 26 among participants in the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the risk factors associated with tooth loss between the ages of 18 and 26. METHODS: Dental examinations at ages 18 and 26 were conducted on Study members in the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study, and sociodemographic and dental service use data were collected using a self-report questionnaire. At age 15, an estimate of socio-economic status (SES) for each Study member had been obtained by classifying the occupation of the male parent. A case of tooth loss was defined as an individual who had lost one or more teeth (excluding third molars) due to caries between ages 18 and 26. Logistic regression and Poisson analysis were used to model the occurrence of tooth loss. RESULTS: Among the 821 study members who were examined at both ages, one or more teeth were lost because of caries by 85 (10.3%). After controlling for sex, SES and visiting pattern, baseline caries experience predicted subsequent tooth loss, with the odds increasing by 2.8 for every increase by 1 in the number of decayed surfaces present at age 18. Episodic dental visitors had 3.1 times the odds of their routine visiting counterparts of losing a tooth over the observation period. The number of teeth lost was, on average, 2.3 times higher among episodic dental visitors. CONCLUSIONS: Socio-economic inequalities in tooth loss appear to begin early in the life course, and are modified by individuals' SES and dental visiting patterns.

Adolescent↗