SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “Handicapped”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

SourceResearch connectionFrom yearThrough year

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 307 records · Page 17Linked to original sources

PubMed1980

Others' perceptions of mothers of handicapped children.

Subjects (N = 80) viewed a video-taped interview with mothers and rated the mothers on adjective scales. One-half of the mothers had nonhandicapped children, and half had handicapped children; however, an individual mother was sometimes misrepresented to subjects as having the other type of child. When the child was described as handicapped, the stated cause of the handicap was varied. When the mother's child was misrepresented, subjects rated mothers who actually had a handicapped child significantly differently from and somewhat more negatively than mothers who actually had nonhandicapped children. When asked to imagine mothers with handicapped children, subjects' ratings differed according to the stated cause of the handicap and differed from ratings of mothers with actual handicapped children presented as such.

Adult↗

PubMed1984

The relationship between reaction times and hand and foot laterality in the slightly mentally handicapped.

The study was carried out on 16 normal children and 16 slightly mentally handicapped children aged 9 years and 10 months. We studied: simple reaction time and simple and complex choice reaction time for the hand and foot. Hand and foot lateralities were determined using six tests. This study enabled us to show different elements: Hand and foot laterality is less often confirmed among the handicapped children. For both groups the fastest hand and foot simple reaction times do not indicate the preferred limb. The possibility of choice in the case of the hand considerably delays the reaction times for the handicapped children. This tendency is not confirmed in the case of choice reaction times for the foot, where the handicapped children are not significantly slower than the normal children, in a choice situation. If the choice situation becomes complicated the handicapped children are slower than the normal children. With the normal children simple reaction times are slower for the foot than for the hand. However, the handicapped children do not show a significant difference between hand and foot reaction times. We put forward the theory that this fact could be explained by the different form of the motor response. Handicapped children have greater difficulty in integrating precision and speed of movement, factors which occur in the movement of the hand reaction time but not in the movement of the foot reaction time.

Child↗

PubMed1983

[Respiratory handicap. Recognition, evaluation and social benefits].

The medico-social aspects of respiratory handicap pose some perplexing problems, notably in their recognition, rigorous evaluation and in the granting of social security benefits. The clinical and respiratory function data should be standardised and classified according to type and significance of respiratory disease and also according to the degree of co-operation and understanding of the patient. The respiratory handicap should be evaluated after considering the functional disability engendered by the disorder and their socio-professional repercussions. The abnormality in the lungs should be measured by resting tests; the degree of disability by exercise studies; the socio-professional handicap by ergonometric tests to assess the scale of the demands and requirements of family and social and professional life, indeed the cultural and economic style of the individual concerned. Such combined studies would enable recognition of severe chronic respiratory handicap leading to decisions for exemption certificates, such as cases of severe respiratory failure in patients requiring supplementary treatment for oxygen therapy or assisted ventilation. The benefits and grants offered to those with respiratory handicaps would involve a number of rights relating to: care, work, costs of replacement of workers in the event of prolonged sick leave or the benefits of an invalidity pension. There will be other allowances such as invalidity cards, lodging special studies and other rights particularly relating to lodging and special equipment. The present scale is difficult to use both because of its lack of specificity and its ill-chosen terminology. For better balance between the handicap and the benefits offered, a common and more flexible system, with a printed table should be at hand for the doctor to use for certain decisions: long term illness, period of invalidity or early retirement because of medical incapacity. Within each table a sub-section should exist to allow for certain aspects of legislation (accidents at work, occupational illness or rights under common law) at the same time certain adjustments may be necessary which take into account the patient, degree of autonomy life style and social and cultural level. A pilot study of respiratory handicap, to standardise tests, and co-ordinate the planning of the medical and social interactions for a better grasp of the disorder and greater uniformity of the regulations within each disablement benefit system as well as between various other social security regimes would be desirable.

Chronic Disease↗

PubMed1995

[Drug use by mentally handicapped persons in institutions and family-replacing residential facilities].

OBJECTIVE: Description of use of medication by people with mental handicaps in relation to age, level of mental handicap and living facility. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: Institutions and group homes for people with mental handicaps in North Brabant and Limburg, the Netherlands. METHODS: Of a patient sample (n = 1265), stratified according to age and living facility (i.e. institution or group home) data were collected by means of questionnaires to be completed by the general practitioners. For 101 persons data about level of mental handicap were lacking. RESULTS: 57% of the patients used one or more drugs. The numbers of drugs used were significantly related to (increased) age and level of mental handicap. Older patients more often used antipsychotics, laxatives and cardiovascular medication, younger ones more often used anticonvulsants. More severely handicapped persons used antipsychotics, anticonvulsants, laxatives, antacids, psychoactive medication and gastrointestinal medication more often. There was no relationship between amount of medication and living facility. CONCLUSION: Many mentally handicapped use medication. Since epilepsy, psychiatric and behavioural diseases and gastrointestinal problems are frequent, and because the patients offer little spontaneous information, alertness with respect to drug interaction and side effects is indicated.

Adult↗

PubMed1994

Sex difference in disability and handicap at five years of age in children born at very short gestation.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between sex and disabilities or handicaps at 5 years of age in infants born at less than 32 weeks gestation. DESIGN: From the nationwide collaborative survey starting in 1983, including perinatal data obtained during routine perinatal care and follow-up assessments by the attending pediatricians, data from 1008 infants fulfilling the criteria were used. At age 5 years, a detailed assessment was performed by three specially trained pediatricians in 96% surviving infants (n = 648), of which 345 were boys. Each child was categorized as disabled or handicapped, using World Health Organization definitions. RESULTS: The prevalence of handicaps was three times greater in boys than in girls (21% vs 7%, odds ratio 3.2). Adjustment for gestational age and birth weight (logistic regression analysis) did not change this (odds ratio 3.5). Further adjustment by including perinatal variables such as idiopathic respiratory distress syndrome did not alter the odds ratios. The male excess in handicaps was not related to lower mortality, and therefore was not a mere consequence of a higher survival rate. The excess in handicaps was found in all assessed areas. CONCLUSIONS: Infants' sex seems to be an important determinant of handicaps. The perinatal variables used in the present study do not explain the difference in handicaps. These findings emphasize the need to include the sex distribution of a study population more systematically in analyses in future studies concerning long-term outcome of very preterm birth or low birth weight.

Child, Preschool↗

PubMed2000

Treatment of epilepsy in the multiply handicapped.

The medical management of epilepsy in the multi-handicapped patient requires careful evaluation, classification, and pharmacologic treatment. It is estimated that 20-40% of patients with mental retardation and cerebral palsy have epilepsy. This review reports the clinical trial data and personal experience related to the use of newer AEDs in the chronic management of epilepsy syndromes in children and adults, as well as information available on the treatment of seizures in individuals with mental retardation and associated handicaps. Furthermore, clusters of seizures, prolonged seizures and status epilepticus are more commonly seen in the multiply handicapped and mentally retarded population and require special attention. The new antiepileptic drugs felbamate, gabapentin, lamotrigine, levetiracetam, oxcarbazepine, tiagabine, topiramate, vigabatrin and zonisamide show specific advantage in some multiply handicapped patients, be it for seizure control or medication tolerance. Furthermore, new modalities of treatment for prolonged seizures allow better efficacy both outside of hospital and within hospital facilities. The treatment of epilepsy in multi-handicapped and retarded adults and children has significantly advanced in the past few years, and much of this improvement can be attributed to improved knowledge and monitoring of new antiepileptic drugs. Conventional anticonvulsants remain first line therapy for most clinicians, but newer AEDs must broaden the therapeutic option and do allow improved therapy for some multiply handicapped patients.

Anticonvulsants↗

PubMed1978

Aetiology of severe handicapping conditions in early childhood.

The hypothesis that the incidence of major childhood handicap could be significantly reduced by an increase in the availability of intensive care facilities for newborn babies has been considered in an examination of possible aetiological factors in 128 young children with mental and/or neurological handicaps referred to the Armitstead Child Development Centre, Dundee, 1973-77. Thirty-three children suffered from primary mental retardation; adverse perinatal factors were possibly implicated in one case. Low birth weight was considered to be the primary aetiological factor in 23 of 73 children with cerebral palsy +/- mental retardation and in 13 with other adverse perinatal factors. Moderate or severe neonatal complications were reported for 37% but in 27% complications were likely to have resulted from existing brain damage or abnormality. Available evidence suggested that early embryonic origin of handicap was most likely in three-quarters of cases of primary mental retardation, and in one-third of cases of cerebral palsy. Severity of handicap in children with cerebral palsy was significantly increased in those whose handicaps had a prenatal origin. Of this selected group of handicapped children (cerebral palsy being over-represented), adverse perinatal factors may have caused or exacerbated existing brain damage in, at most, one-third.

Brain Damage, Chronic↗

PubMed1980

[Mentally handicapped: developing a personality of their own. Tasks in the planning of housing facilities].

The bases for material existence of mentally handicapped people is actually guaranteed in European countries, but the possibility for them to choose their own way of life is still strictly limited. The "principle of normalization" which is put forward here as a planning principle has nothing to do wih the normality of people but tends to normalize their living conditions. A mentally handicapped person should be allowed to live like any other citizen of his country as fat as he is capable to. Departing from the course of life which is usual in a certain country we have to plan an amount of institutions and services of assistance in order to diminish gradually the segregation of the mentally handicapped. Subsequently a concept for organizing the network of institutions and services needed is proposed, and a short outline of the actual situation of mentally handicapped people in the Kanton of zürich (Switzerland) is given. Hence the author presents 2 examples of environmental conditions which can be planned and built: - Dwelling establishements for mentally handicapped adults - The school for mentally handicapped children at Humlikon (Switzerland).

Adult↗

PubMed1991

Dysphagia, an unrecognized handicap.

The aim of this study was to examine whether esophageal dysphagia can be described as a handicap and to grade the severity of handicap as the discrepancy between the subject's own eating goals and his or her eating disability. The severity of the disability-goal-handicap (DGH) regarding dysphagia was expressed on a scale ranging from 0 to 48 points. Nineteen patients with dysphagia of differing causes were selected from a patient register at a laboratory for diagnostic procedures of the esophagus. The severity of handicap for the 19 patients was, on average, 33 points (range, 20-44). The DGH score correlated significantly with the patients' own evaluation of the severity of their dysphagia (p = 0.008). The DGH scores did not differ markedly based on patient's sex, age, or cause of dysphagia. Patients who were operated upon because of dysphagia had significantly more points on the DGH scale prior to operation than patients who were not (p = 0.001). Denial of dysphagia (N = 18), concealment of dysphagia (N = 18), and lack of confirmation by the patient's physician (N = 15) were common but did not influence the severity of handicap as assessed by the DGH scale. It was shown that dysphagia affects all aspects of life as expressed by reduction in self-esteem (N = 13), security (N = 16), work capacity (N = 8), exercise (N = 7), and leisure time (N = 6). Esophageal dysphagia may therefore be regarded as a handicap when assessed using the DGH code described in this study.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2001

The influence of social support and perceived control on handicap and quality of life after stroke.

It has been suggested that external factors, such as perceived control of life and social support, influence the interactions of impairment, disability and handicap in the WHO model. Therefore, we assessed the effect of these two factors on the relationships between disability, handicap and quality of life in patients recovering from stroke. One hundred individuals, retrospectively and randomly selected from participants in an inpatient stroke rehabilitation program, were tested one year after discharge, using the Functional Independence Measure, the London Handicap Scale, the Life Satisfaction Assessment, the Tel-Aviv Social Support Instrument, and the Perceived Stress Scale. Impairment, disability, handicap and quality of life after stroke correlated positively and significantly with each other. Significant moderation of the influence that disability exerts on handicap was affected by perception of control, and by the influence of handicap over quality of life by social support. Thus, external factors can cause inconsistent interactions between components of the WHO model. Patient outcome may be improved if such factors are considered.

Aged↗

PubMed1981

Transport for the elderly and the handicapped.

This paper is a postcript to the International Conference on Transport for Elderly and Handicapped Persons held at Cambridge University from 4-6 April 1978. The author was one of the organisers and discusses in this paper the following issues which were of central interest at the conference: what is the rationale underlying the provision of transport for the elderly and the handicapped, how can the travel patterns of the elderly and the handicapped be characterised, what are the principal means of transport which the elderly and the handicapped use in urban areas, and what are their advantages and disadvantages from an economic, social and ergonomics point of view? The next International Conference on Transport for Elderly and Handicapped Persons will be held at Churchill College, Cambridge, from 14-16 July 1981. This paper will serve as a reference point for that conference and it will be interesting to see what advances, if any, have been made over the three years intervening between the two conferences, in understanding and solving the transport problems of the elderly and the handicapped.

Journal Article↗

PubMed1991

[Physical handicapped, economic practices and matrimonial strategies in Senegal].

Social relations around the handicapped are generally presented in terms of economic dependence and social inadaptation. This point of view leads to give greater importance, especially in Africa, to studying the way in which group and society help the physically or mentally ill. Actually, this approach does not give a complete account about the real situation of the handicapped in social relations of production and reproduction. From a series of in-depth interviews conducted in handicapped families of the suburbs of Dakar, two aspects are analyzed: the economic role of the handicapped, through the circulation of the product of his begging in his household or through the exploitation of his work as apprentice in a workshop; and his value on the marriage market, where invalid persons are given without dowry if they are women, and must pay a much more important amount if they are men. The social situation of the handicapped thus is not only a matter of assistance or charity, but as well of strategies that the handicapped and above all his circle implement in order to take advantage of the stigma or on the contrary try to erase it.

Persons with Disabilities↗

PubMed1999

Determining the relation between quality of life, handicap, fitness, and physical activity for persons with spinal cord injury.

OBJECTIVE: Determining relationships among fitness, physical activity, subjective quality of life, and handicap in persons with spinal cord injury (SCI). DESIGN: Cross-sectional exploratory study. SETTING: University research laboratory setting. PARTICIPANTS: Twenty-eight men and 10 women (age 35.9+/-9.3 yrs) with SCI (17 quadriplegic, 21 paraplegic). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Fitness (maximal incremental exercise test on arm ergometer), physical activity (leisure time exercise questionnaire), subjective quality of life (Quality of Life Profile: Physical and Sensory Disabilities Version), and level of handicap (Craig Handicap Assessment Reporting Technique). Correlational analyses examined relationships between the measures. RESULTS: Physical activity was correlated with composite handicap score in quadriplegic and paraplegic persons. Handicap domain scores for physical independence, mobility, and occupation were correlated with physical activity in quadriplegic persons. There was no relation between the subjective quality of life scores and fitness and physical activity in either group. CONCLUSIONS: Physical activity may play an important role in handicap for persons with SCI, particularly persons with quadriplegic injuries. The lack of a relation between activity variables and subjective quality of life may be related to the global nature of the measure used.

Activities of Daily Living↗

PubMed1983

Relationship of cerebral intraventricular hemorrhage and early childhood neurologic handicaps.

The outcome in 198 surviving very-low-birth-weight (less than 1501 gm) infants with and without cerebral intraventricular hemorrhage was compared to determine whether CVH is associated with early childhood developmental or neuromotor handicaps. Major handicaps were noted in 10% of the infants without and 28% of the infants with CVH. Among the infants with CVH, a major handicap was present in 9% with grade 1, 11% with grade 2, 36% with grade 3, and 76% with grade 4 CVH. Infants with posthemorrhagic hydrocephalus had the same incidence of major handicaps (59%) as did comparable infants with no hydrocephalus (57%). Our data indicate that grades 1 and 2 CVH do not increase an infant's risk for major handicaps, and there is a direct relationship of grades 3 and 4 CVH and major handicaps.

Cerebral Hemorrhage↗

PubMed2003

Error-proneness as a handicap signal.

This paper describes two discrete signalling models in which the error-proneness of signals can serve as a handicap signal. In the first model, the direct handicap of sending a high-quality signal is not large enough to assure that a low-quality signaller will not send it. However, if the receiver sometimes mistakes a high-quality signal for a low-quality one, then there is an indirect handicap to sending a high-quality signal. The total handicap of sending such a signal may then still be such that a low-quality signaller would not want to send it. In the second model, there is no direct handicap of sending signals, so that nothing would seem to stop a signaller from always sending a high-quality signal. However, the receiver sometimes fails to detect signals, and this causes an indirect handicap of sending a high-quality signal that still stops the low-quality signaller of sending such a signal. The conditions for honesty are that the probability of an error of detection is higher for a high-quality than for a low-quality signal, and that the signaller who does not detect a signal adopts a response that is bad to the signaller. In both our models, we thus obtain the result that signal accuracy should not lie above a certain level in order for honest signalling to be possible. Moreover, we show that the maximal accuracy that can be achieved is higher the lower the degree of conflict between signaller and receiver. As well, we show that it is the conditions for honest signalling that may be constraining signal accuracy, rather than the signaller trying to make honest signals as effective as possible given receiver psychology, or the signaller adapting the accuracy of honest signals depending on his interests.

Attention↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Epidemiological monitoring of psychological, neurological and sensory handicaps in the 0-24-year-old Abruzzo population (Italy). Preliminary results].

OBJECTIVE: To describe the setting up of the Abruzzo Region (Italy) Service for Prevention and Epidemiological Register of Handicaps, to show prevalence data of occurring diseases and fit regression models aimed at explicating disease occurrence in terms of risk factors; to discuss services access data in terms of their efficacy in fitting social and health needs. SETTING AND DESIGN: We managed data obtained from a regional information system, based upon primary information sources operating in the Local Health Agencies (i.e. school medicine services, general practitioners, paediatricians, familiar counseling services, rehabilitation centers) and specialistic structures for diagnostic detection (multidisciplinary school équipes, hospital division of infant neuropsychiatry, outpatient infant neuropsychiatry services). The data managing model is a population-based epidemiological register. The target population is the 0-24 years population of the Abruzzo Region. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Occurrence data are expressed as prevalence rates, using standardisation according to the global population of the area of interest. Diagnoses have been defined according to the standard ICD-9 and ICD-10 criteria; definition of handicaps has been made according to the WHO classification (1981). Association between indicator (socio-demographic and anamnestic) variables and occurrence of disease has been fitted by logistic regression models. RESULTS: Prevalence estimates obtained for the main infant neuropsychiatric diseases, as well as for the main handicap-determining genetic and/or congenital diseases, are consistent with the findings of literature in similar settings. An exception is the high occurrence of hyperkinetic disorders in both sexes. Rehabilitation is the main health need for all diagnostic axes. With respect to social needs, school and home personal care seem to be scarcely relevant if related to disease prevalence. Logistic regression analysis indicates socio-economic status and presence of handicapped relatives in the family as factors associated with the occurrence of disease. Respectively, the two factors are negatively associated with the occurrence of hyperkinetic disorders and positively associated with occurrence of mental retardation. Moreover, living in a natural family is negatively associated with evolutive disorders. CONCLUSIONS: This is a report about the preliminary results obtained by a specialised register for infant psychological and neurological handicaps. The findings suggest, as operating indications, the standardisation of diagnostic procedures and the definition of common managing guidelines in different areas. Anyhow, the findings of this report highlight the importance of an epidemiological knowledge of handicap in order to design correct prevention strategies and health services planning.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1989

Dental services for children with mental handicaps: policy changes and parental choices.

Dental services for children with mental handicaps are subject to conflicting policies. On the one hand, the community dental service is being asked to move towards a more specialised role and to focus on disadvantaged groups such as people with mental handicaps. On the other hand, policies for community care have stressed that handicapped people are stigmatised by specialised provision and should have access to all the services used by non-handicapped people. A longitudinal study of 162 mentally handicapped children provided an opportunity to assess parents' opinions on this issue. The results showed high levels of contact with the dental services. Most parents were satisfied with the care their children had received, although there was some suggestion of a preference for receiving care from the general dental practitioner service. However, parents whose children were hard to manage tended to prefer the more specialised care provided by the community dental service. The results of the study suggested that there is a continuing role for the community dental service and that general dental practitioners may need support from the community dental service to help them meet the demands of parents whose children have a mental handicap.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1983

Audiometric correlates of the Hearing Handicap Inventory for the elderly.

The self-assessment of hearing handicap has received considerable attention in recent years. The Hearing Handicap Inventory for the Elderly (HHIE) is a self-assessment technique designed to quantify the emotional and social effects of self-perceived hearing impairment in the noninstitutionalized elderly. The purpose of the present study was to examine the audiometric correlates of hearing handicap as measured by the HHIE. One hundred elderly subjects received complete audiometric evaluations as well as the HHIE. The results indicated that pure-tone sensitivity in the better ear was most highly correlated with the HHIE (r = .61) and that word recognition accounted for no more than 20% of the variance in HHIE scores. These results are similar to those reported for younger subjects and for other handicap assessment techniques. The results also indicated that there is considerable individual variability in the emotional and social response to hearing impairment, especially in individuals with mild (26-40 dB PTA in better ear) hearing impairment. The variability in response to impairment coupled with the fact that audiometric measures explain less than 50% of the variance in hearing handicap suggest that hearing handicap in the elderly will be measured more appropriately via a self-report format rather than as an inference from audiometric data.

Age Factors↗