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Biomedical subjects

P Rasmussen

Publications and source records attributed to P Rasmussen.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

Cognitive social learning mediators of aggression.

This research explored links between aggression in elementary school children and 2 classes of social cognitions that might influence children's decisions about whether to behave aggressively. Aggressive and nonaggressive children (mean age 11.3 years) responded to 2 questionnaires. One questionnaire measured children's perceptions of their abilities to perform aggression and related behaviors (perceptions of self-efficacy), and the other measured children's beliefs about the reinforcing and punishing consequences of aggression (response-outcome expectancies). Compared to nonaggressive children, aggressive subjects reported that it is easier to perform aggression and more difficult to inhibit aggressive impulses. Aggressive children also were more confident that aggression would produce tangible rewards and would reduce aversive treatment by others. There were negligible sex differences in perceived self-efficacy for aggression but large sex differences in anticipated social and personal consequences for aggression, with girls expecting aggression to cause more suffering in the victim and to be punished more severely by the peer group and by the self. It was concluded that children's knowledge of their capabilities and children's knowledge of the consequences of their actions are factors that need to be taken into account by cognitive models of aggression.

Aggression↗

Infections with Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Chlamydia trachomatis in women with acute salpingitis.

The value of cultural and serological procedures in diagnosing gonococcal and chlamydial infections was investigated in 85 women who had provisional diagnoses of pelvic inflammatory disease. The correlation between certain clinical variables and the absence or presence of such infections was also studied. In 46 the diagnosis of acute salpingitis was verified by laparoscopy. The laboratory and clinical findings in the patients with acute salpingitis were compared with those in the remaining 39 women in whom laparoscopy did not show signs of inflammation. Salpingitis was considered to be gonococcal if Neisseria gonorrhoeae was isolated or a fourfold or more change in titre of antibodies to gonococcus pilus antigen was found. The diagnosis of chlamydial salpingitis was based on the isolation of Chlamydia trachomatis, a fourfold or more change in titre of IgG antibodies to or from a titre of greater than or equal to 1/256, or the presence of IgG antibodies at a titre of greater than or equal to 1/512. Patients with chlamydial salpingitis had less severe symptoms but a more protracted course of disease than patients with gonococcal salpingitis or with acute salpingitis not associated with the two pathogens.

Acute Disease↗

Importance of Mycoplasma hominis in acute salpingitis assessed by culture and serological tests.

In 95 women with a provisional diagnosis of pelvic inflammatory disease, a final diagnosis of acute salpingitis was confirmed by laparoscopy in 46 and 10 had strong clinical evidence of acute salpingitis. The findings in the remaining 39 patients without signs of acute salpingitis by laparoscopy were used as a standard of reference. Criteria for the diagnosis of possible mycoplasmal salpingitis were tentatively defined as the isolation of Mycoplasma hominis from the cervix together with positive test results for M hominis antibodies (a titre of greater than or equal to 1/1280 or a change in titre, or both); these criteria were fulfilled in 12 patients with acute salpingitis. A positive correlation between mycoplasmal salpingitis and chlamydial salpingitis or gonococcal salpingitis, or both, was significant. Mycoplasmal salpingitis was not associated with any characteristic clinical feature different from those of patients with non-mycoplasmal salpingitis. Our findings do not support the view that M hominis is an important primary pathogen in acute salpingitis.

Acute Disease↗

Early results after Colles' fracture: functional bracing in supination vs dorsal plaster immobilization.

A randomized clinical study of functional bracing in supination (FUSU) versus dorsal plaster immobilization (DPI) was conducted in 145 patients with Colles' fracture. A dynamic wrist unit was developed and used in 68 patients allocated for FUSU. The anatomical end result after FUSU was excellent or good in 80% of the patients versus 64% after DPI (P less than 0.05), in particular due to less dorsal angulation (P less than 0.001) and less radial shortening. The functional recovery was equal after 7 weeks and 3 months. At 6 months, 92% satisfactory results were achieved after FUSU versus 86% after DPI (P less than 0.05). Both anatomical and functional benefits were recorded in Frykman type V, VI, and VIII fractures and in the group of displaced intra-articular fractures. The functional benefit from FUSU is suggested primarily to be secondary to decreased fracture redislocation.

Adult↗

Handedness in Swedish 10-year-olds. Some background and associated factors.

Forty-five left-handed and 46 right-handed 10-year-old children were subjected to a limited set of neurological tests and a square tracing task. 'Pathological' handedness was diagnosed in cases showing poor performance with the non-preferred hand on the squares task. The frequency of left-handedness in the population was estimated at 9.2%. The boy : girl ratio was 1.6:1. 'Pathological' handedness was twice as common among left-handers as among right-handers. Neurological dysfunction was more common in 'pathological' handers, especially left-handers. Reduced pre-. peri- and neonatal optimality was seen in boys with 'pathological handedness'. School achievement problems and behaviour problems were much more common in left-handed boys than in other study groups. The results lend partial support for the extended pathological left-handedness model recently hypothesized by Bishop, but it is suggested that left-handedness in boys is more often a symptom of pathological shift of handedness than is left-handedness in girls.

Achievement↗

Non-painful phantom limb phenomena in amputees: incidence, clinical characteristics and temporal course.

58 patients undergoing limb amputation mainly because of peripheral vascular disease were interviewed by means of a standard questionnaire and examined 8 days, 6 months and 2 years after limb amputation regarding non-painful phantom limb phenomena. During the follow-up period, 41% of patients died. The incidence of phantom limb 8 days, 6 months and 2 years after limb loss was 84%, 90% and 71%, respectively. Phantom limb phenomena changed within the first half year after amputation from a mainly proximal and distal distribution to a mainly distal localized sensation. While approximately 3/4 of patients with phantom limb had kinaesthetic sensations in the limb (i.e. feeling of length, volume or other spatial sensation) during the first 6 months after amputation, less than 50% of patients had this later in the course; 30% of patients noticed a clear shortening of the phantom limb during the follow-up period. While the incidence of phantom limb did not decrease during the follow-up period, both the duration and frequency of phantom limb phenomena declined significantly. The distribution of non-painful and painful phantom limb did not differ significantly from each other. The present findings suggest that mechanisms both in periphery, spinal cord and brain participate in generating the phantom limb percept.

Adult↗

Puerperal lactation inhibition with a novel 8 alpha-aminoergoline (CU 32-085).

The clinical efficacy of CU 32-085, a novel ergoline derivative, in puerperal lactation inhibition was investigated in 41 healthy postpartum women and compared with serum concentrations of prolaction (PRL) and CU 32-085. The women received 0.5 mg CU 32-085 twice daily for 14 days. In 40 women (i.e. 97%) treatment with CU 32-085 successfully inhibited lactation; slight to moderate breast activity appearing during the first few days receded spontaneously. 1 woman experienced full milk let-down on day 5 of treatment. No rebound lactational phenomena were recorded. 5 h after the initial dose, mean serum PRL concentrations decreased by 82% (from 169 to 30 ng/ml), and PRL values remained at that level during the course of treatment. The mean serum concentrations of CU 32-085 showed an inverse pattern compared to PRL. CU 32-085 was well tolerated, with transient slight to moderate dizziness, headache and nausea reported by 12 women (29%) following the initial dose. These disappeared after an average of 3 h. Routine safety chemistries remained within the normal range, and no statistically significant differences between the treatment group and the control group (25 normal nursing postpartum women) were encountered. It is concluded that CU 32-085, a potent dopamine agonist, is an effective and well-tolerated treatment in the indication of postpartum lactation inhibition.

Adolescent↗

Mental retardation in Swedish urban children: some epidemiological considerations.

The total population of children born in 1971 and living in Gothenburg, Sweden, by the end of 1977 was screened in order to estimate prevalence figures for various neurodevelopmental disorders. Ninety-four percent of all children assessed attended public preschools. Questionnaires aimed at detecting perceptual, conceptual, motor, and attentional deficits were completed by preschool teachers for 72% of children in these schools. Samples of children with and without problems on the questionnaire were given neuropsychiatric examinations. National registers were searched to identify mentally retarded children not in public preschools. The total population frequency figure for unequivocal mental retardation was almost 1% with an additional 1% of the total population deemed to be of borderline intelligence.

Child↗

Hyperkinetic disorders in seven-year-old children with perceptual, motor and attentional deficits.

One hundred and forty-one seven-year-old Swedish children took part in an extensive neuropsychiatric study involving total population samples of children who had shown perceptual, motor and attentional deficits in pre-school, and blindly examined comparison children. The present paper reports on generalized hyperkinesis, i.e. hyperactivity in the child in all of three different assessment settings. About a third of children diagnosed according to strict criteria as suffering from 'Minimal Brain Dysfunction' showed generalized hyperkinesis. In children without perceptual-motor deficits, hyperkinesis was very much rarer. A total population frequency for generalized hyperkinesis in the range of 1-3% is reported as probable. Heredity for delayed maturation, non-optimal pre-, peri- and neonatal factors and adverse psychosocial factors were found to interact in the shaping of the disorder.

Attention↗

Perceptual, motor and attentional deficits in seven-year-old children: neurological and neurodevelopmental aspects.

This study presents the results of neurological assessments of a representative sample of seven-year-old Swedish children with perceptual, motor and attentional deficits and their controls (N = 141). Among those children diagnosed as suffering from minimal brain dysfunction (MBD), the majority showed neurodevelopmental deviations indicative of the "clumsy child syndrome'. However, 20 per cent had slight signs of choreoathetosis, diparesis, hemiparesis or ataxia. Other associated neurodevelopmental deviations are considered. The correlation between neurological findings and background factors is discussed: the MBD group had higher scores for various "organic' background factors than the comparison children, and the children with neurological syndromes had somewhat higher scores than the remaining children with MBD. The difficulties in distinguishing MBD from mental retardation, cerebral palsy and childhood psychoses is clearly illustrated. Long-term follow-up will indicate the prognostic significance of these findings.

Attention↗

Three-year follow-up at age 10 of children with minor neurodevelopmental disorders. II: School achievement problems.

Part I of this paper considered the behavioural problems at age 10 of groups of children from a total population study of six-year-old children in Gothenburg and diagnosed according to strict criteria as suffering from minimal brain dysfunction (MBD), motor perception dysfunction (MPD) or attention deficit disorder (ADD), and a comparison group of normal children. Part II considers school achievement problems at age 10 among the same groups of children. 80 per cent of MBD children had obvious problems in school achievement, compared with 16 per cent in the comparison group. The MPD and ADD groups did not differ significantly from the comparison group in this respect. There was a considerable overlap between behaviour problems and school achievement problems, and the results indicate a gloomy prognosis for both types of problem among children with MBD.

Achievement↗

Perceptual, motor and attentional deficits in seven-year-old children. Neurological screening aspects.

In an extensive neuropsychiatric study of seven-year-old children, operational criteria for diagnosing minimal brain dysfunction (MBD) syndrome were used. Detailed behavioural assessment and meticulous neurological examination provided the basis for the MBD diagnosis. The time-consuming specialist examination by the child neurologist was considered too sophisticated for use in everyday clinical practice. Therefore, the results obtained at a short neurodevelopmental screening assessment performed by a child psychiatrist were analysed with the aim of finding a limited set of neurological examination items with high discriminating capacity detecting for MBD syndromes. A set of six such items (diadochokinesis, hopping on one leg, standing on one leg, cutting out a paper circle, associated movements when walking on lateral sides of feet and the labyrinth test of the WISC) produced a minimal rate of misclassified cases. It is argued that this discriminant set may be useful in everyday child psychiatric and pediatric assessment of children who raise suspicion of suffering from MBD.

Attention↗

Perceptual, motor and attentional deficits in seven-year-old children. Paediatric aspects.

42 children representative of Swedish urban seven-year-olds with a combination of various minor neurodevelopmental deficits in the form of so-called minimal brain dysfunction (MBD) syndromes were compared with 51 children of the same age without such problems as regards general health data from parents' interviews and questionnaires and from paediatric examinations. The findings at the physical examination revealed only few and small differences concerning minor physical anomalies that, in part, is dealt with in a separate report. Children with MBD had experienced simple febrile convulsions significantly more often than controls, and an abnormal EEG was a common finding in these cases. So-called psychosomatic complaints were not overrepresented in the MBD group, but enuresis and encopresis was somewhat more common. The parents' answers to a set of 6 questions (concerned with late speech development, late motor development, gross motor clumsiness, fine motor clumsiness, "shuffling" and difficulties to concentrate) were found to have a high discriminating capacity detecting for MBD syndromes. The possibility of a clinical application of this finding is discussed.

Attention↗