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Biomedical subjects

W Coster

Publications and source records attributed to W Coster.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Personal assistance, adaptations and participation in students with cerebral palsy mainstreamed in elementary schools.

PURPOSE: The aims of this study were to examine differences in level of participation of students with CP in full inclusion (FI group) as compared to self-contained classes (SC group), differences in the task supports provided for these two groups, the interrelationships between assistance and adaptation provided and the differential impact of physical task supports vs. cognitive/behavioural task supports on participation. METHOD: 148 elementary school students were divided into two groups: 100 fully included (FI) students with CP, and 48 students with CP in self-contained classes (SC). The School Function Assessment (SFA) was used as the main measurement for assessing the levels of participation and functional performance profiles. RESULTS: Statistically significant differences (p < 0.0001) were found between the two groups on all scales (physical and cognitive/behavioural assistance and adaptations). Supports provided to the SC group were significantly greater than to the FI group and physical task supports provided to both groups were significantly greater than cognitive/behavioural supports. Pearson correlations and Smallest Space Analyses (SSA) revealed significant (p < 0.01) moderate to strong correlations (0.57 > r < 0.77) between all four task supports, and between provided task supports and participation (0.66 > r < 0.82). CONCLUSIONS: This study's focus enhances our understanding of the impact of task supports to the various factors contributing to the dimensions of the ICF, as well as their interrelationship with participation. Devises and cognitive and behavioural adaptations are required in a wider manner in addition or alternative to physical assistance by adults if we are to increase the chance of students with severe CP to become participatory for academic and social tasks required in school.

Adaptation, Physiological↗
PubMed2005

Participation and activity performance of students with cerebral palsy within the school environment.

PURPOSE: The aims of this study were to investigate the levels of participation and activity performance of students with cerebral palsy within the inclusive school context, to explore the relationships between these two aspects of function and to identify predictors of participation among the various school activities. METHOD: Two hundred and forty-eight elementary school students were divided into three groups: 100 fully included (FI) students with CP, 100 matched by class and gender typical students (TS) and 48 students with CP in self-contained classes (SC). The School Function Assessment (SFA) was used as the main measurement for assessing the levels of participation and functional performance profiles. RESULTS: Significant differences (P<0.0001) in levels of participation were evident across the three study groups using MANOVA and ANOVAs analyses, where the TS level was the highest and the SC was the lowest. Comparison of the mean score of the physical and the cognitive/behavioural tasks performance revealed similar results among the three groups. Positive Pearson correlations were obtained between participation and both motor and cognitive/behavioural activity performance in the FI and the SC groups. Regression models for the FI and the SC groups were found significant (P<0.0001) and explained above 69% of the participation variance with physical activity performance as the most predictive variable. CONCLUSIONS: Significant differences exist between participation and activity performance of typical students and students with CP included in regular schools. Moreover, activity performance limitations were found to impact on school participation. These findings stress the continuing need to provide rehabilitative intervention towards removing existing barriers within the inclusive environment.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1999

Using IRT variable maps to enrich understanding of rehabilitation data.

One of the benefits of item response theory (IRT) applications in scale development is the greater transparency of resulting scores. This feature allows translation of a total score on a particular scale into a profile of probable item responses with relative ease, for example by using the variable map that often is part of IRT analysis output. Although there have been a few examples in the literature using variable maps to enrich clinical interpretation of individual functional assessment scores, this feature of IRT output has received very limited application in rehabilitation research. The present paper illustrates the application of variable maps to support more in-depth interpretation of functional assessment scores in research and clinical contexts. Two examples are presented from an outcome prediction study conducted during the standardization of a new functional assessment for elementary school students with disabilities, the School Function Assessment. Two different applications are described: creating a dichotomous outcome variable using scores from a continuous scale, and interpreting the meaning of a classification cut-off score identified through Classification and Regression Tree (CART) analysis.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1998

Occupation-centered assessment of children.

The past 5 years have seen increasing calls to reexamine our assessment and intervention practices to ensure that they reflect the profession's basic focus on occupation. Although a number of noteworthy efforts in this direction have been presented for adult practice areas, implementation of occupation-centered assessment in pediatric has been hampered by the lack of a consistent framework to guide this process. This article will present an adaptation of the functional assessment model proposed by Trombly (1993) designed to better reflect the unique needs and situations of children. It is a multilevel model that examines the pattern of a child's occupations in a particular environment as well as the performance of important tasks and activities that are part of these occupations. It is proposed that this model can serve as an organizing framework for an occupation-centered assessment process by helping to identify the critical questions that need to be addressed at each level of analysis and the kinds of measures that might be used to obtain relevant information. The newly completed School Function Assessment will be used to illustrate application of the framework to examine occupational performance of children in elementary school.

Child↗
PubMed1990

Body part identification in 1- to 2-year-old children.

The purpose of this study was to examine the developmental sequence of body part identification in very young children, 11 to 25 months of age. In the first part of the study, 113 children, divided into five age groups (12-month-olds, 15-month-olds, 18-month-olds, 21-month-olds, and 24-month-olds), were asked to point to 20 body parts on a doll. The results indicated a positive correlation between number of parts correctly identified and increasing age. No sex differences or Sex X Age interactions were found. In the second part of the study, the difference between pointing to body parts on the self and pointing to body parts on a doll was examined in two groups of 2-year-olds. The results indicated no significant difference between the ability to point to body parts on a doll and the ability to point to body parts on the self. Factors that may contribute to the development of body part identification in 1- to 2-year-olds and the sequence in which body parts are learned are discussed. The results help provide diagnostic criteria for children with suspected delays in cognitive, language, or body scheme development.

Age Factors↗