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Heart-rate variability during nocturnal sleep in mentally retarded children.

Heart-rate variability in four normal and 30 mentally retarded children was investigated during nocturnal sleep. In four normal and 25 mentally retarded subjects, a high frequency component defined as spectral activity between 0.15 and 0.5 Hz was found in the compressed spectral array of the power spectra. A periodic change was seen in the high frequency component which corresponded precisely to the sleep cycle. However, four children with mental retardation did not show normally expected changes in the high frequency components specific to the sleep stages: a quantity of the high frequency component in only one sleep cycle (n=2; 6 mo. and 3 yr., 8 mo.), a decreased quantity and discontinuity of the high frequency component in only the second sleep cycle (n=1; 1 yr., 2 mo.), and no high frequency component in any sleep cycle (n=1; 3 mo.) These findings suggest that some mentally retarded children have an abnormal parasympathetic nervous activity.

Adolescent↗

The evaluation of reaction time on mentally retarded children.

This study was designed to compare the parameters of reaction time on mentally retarded and healthy children and also to find out the effect of sport on reaction time. The study consisted of 20 non-retarded (group I), 20 non-sporting trainable mentally retarded (group II), and 20 sporting trainable mentally retarded (group III). The avarage age of subjects were determined as 15.35 +/- 0.21 years in group I, 15.00 +/- 0.22 years in group II, and 15.15 +/- 0.21 years in group III. The audiovisual reaction time of both non-retarded and retarded children were measured. It was found that reaction time is lower in trainable mentally retarded children (p < 0.05). It can be concluded that sport is a valid and effective means of training which affects the reaction time positively.

Adolescent↗

Interdependence of architectural features and program variables in community residences for people with mental retardation.

In an earlier study, we found that architects, group home administrators, people with mental retardation, family members of people with mental retardation, and college undergraduates rated the homelikeness of slides of community residences for people with mental retardation similarly. In addition, clusters of physical features were identified that were specifically associated with homelikeness ratings. In the present study, behavior of residents with mental retardation living in those residences was assessed using the Aberrant Behavior Checklist and direct behavioral observations. After statistically controlling for confounding variables, we found that adaptive and maladaptive behavior covaried with homelikeness ratings. In addition, we were able to identify associations between specific architectural features of residential settings and the behavior of residents living in those settings.

Activities of Daily Living↗

Some interpersonal consequences of being mentally ill or mentally retarded.

The present study was carried out at an institution for mentally retarded persons where the subjects (college students) were transported. Under the guise of being "normal," mentally ill, or mentally retarded, each of four confederates met three independent groups of subjects. The verbal reports of the subjects did not vary a great deal as a function of condition, but amount of pain inflicted in an experimental task was strikingly different. In the mentally retarded confederate condition, shocks delivered were shorter and less intense than those given in the "normal" or mentally ill confederate conditions. Since subjects had to teach the confederate, they might have been kinder in the mentally retarded confederate condition because less was expected of the learner. Evidence was also found suggesting that the social impact of stigmas depends on the personal characteristics of the stigmatized person.

Attitude↗

Weight, lipids, glucose, and behavioral measures with ziprasidone treatment in a population with mental retardation.

BACKGROUND: Atypical antipsychotics effectively reduce maladaptive behavior in individuals with mental retardation, yet bring significant weight gain and metabolic anomalies. Ziprasidone, a weight-neutral antipsychotic in patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder, has not been studied in a population with mental retardation and maladaptive behaviors. METHOD: Forty patients with mental retardation and maladaptive behaviors who had gained excessive weight or were inadequately responsive to other agents were switched to ziprasidone. Weight, total cholesterol, HDL, LDL, triglycerides, and frequency of maladaptive behavior were recorded at baseline and after 6 months of ziprasidone treatment. RESULTS: Ziprasidone treatment was associated with a significant weight loss of 8.1 lb (3.6 kg) as well as a significant reduction in total cholesterol and triglycerides (p < or =.05). The monthly frequency of the maladaptive behavior remained unchanged or improved in 72% (18/25) of the patients in whom maladaptive behavior was assessed. CONCLUSION: Ziprasidone effectively reduces the frequency of maladaptive behavior in a patient group with mental retardation without causing weight gain or metabolic disturbances.

Antipsychotic Agents↗

Effects of peer labeling on the metamnemonic estimates of mentally retarded and nonretarded children.

The effects of labeling a comparison peer as mentally retarded on estimates of one's impending recall were investigated. Mentally retarded and nonretarded students viewed an actor labeled as retarded or nonretarded estimate his recall and then attempt to remember 10 items. Students then estimated their own recall and attempted remembering. Groups that viewed the "mentally retarded" actor increased their recall estimates, whereas the reverse was true for viewers of the "nonretarded" actor. Mentally retarded students overestimated their recall capabilities, recalled less, and showed more recall intrusions than did nonretarded viewers.

Adolescent↗

Hand test characteristics of dual diagnosed mentally retarded older adults.

The projective Hand Test (Wagner, 1962/1983) was administered to 17 older adults with a dual diagnosis (mental retardation existing concurrently with some form of mental illness) residing in a Midwestern institution for the mentally retarded. Each of these individuals was matched with another resident in the same institution with a single diagnosis of mental retardation on the variables of age, sex, and level of mental retardation to determine differences between the groups on the Hand Test. The dual diagnosis group gave significantly more bizarre (BIZ) responses, whereas the single diagnosis group gave more descriptive (DES) responses. It was contended that these two variables accurately reflect the essential difference between dual and single diagnosed mentally retarded individuals.

Aged↗

Autism and mental retardation of young children in China.

OBJECTIVE: To understand the prevalence and rehabilitation status of autism and mental retardation in China. METHODS: Screening test and clinical assessment were conducted for the diagnosis of autism and mental retardation. The assessment included investigation of the histories of medical conditions and development of these two disorders, utilization and needs for the rehabilitation service, and related intellectual and behavioral appraisal. RESULTS: Among the 7345 children investigated, the prevalence of autism disorder was 1.10 cases per 1000 children aged 2-6 years (95% CI=0.34 to 2.54), and the prevalence of mental retardation was 10.76 cases per 1000 children (95% CI=8.40 to 13.12). All the children suffering from autistic disorder were intellectually disabled, whereas 31.0% of the non-autism mental retardates had other disabilities. The medical conditions prior to birth and perinatal period were important potential factors for autism. Half of the autistic children and 84% of the children with non-autism mental retardation had never received any rehabilitative service. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of autistic disorder in children aged 2-6 years in Tianjin is rather high. It is urgent to improve the status of the autistic and intelligently disabled young children in China. In order to upgrade the level of early diagnostic and improve the intervention to autism and mental retardation, public awareness and training courses should be heightened.

Autistic Disorder↗

Short-term memory for pictures and words by mentally retarded and nonretarded persons.

Mentally retarded and nonretarded persons were compared in a Brown-Peterson short-term memory task for the retention of words and pictures over intervals up to 30 seconds. The retarded subjects forgot more rapidly over the initial 10 seconds. They also retained pictures better than they did words; the nonretarded subjects retained these stimuli equally well. The results were theoretically interpreted as reflecting a structural memory deficit in retarded individuals, who were viewed as having greater facility with an imaginal memory code than with a verbal code. Transforming information from one code to another may also have been more difficult for retarded persons.

Adolescent↗

The Adolescent Behavior Checklist: normative data and sensitivity and specificity of a screening tool for diagnosable psychiatric disorders in adolescents with mental retardation and other development disabilities.

Individuals with mental retardation are almost twice as likely to demonstrate severe behavioral problems or symptoms of mental illness as are nonmentally retarded individuals. At present, however, the ability to diagnose a mental disorder in an individual with mental retardation is difficult, and instruments are needed to help facilitate this process. The Adolescent Behavior Checklist was developed with this purpose in mind. This self-report scale is used to assess the likelihood that an adolescent with mild mental retardation or borderline intelligence has a diagnosable mental illness. The 86-item yes/no self-report scale renders scores on eight subscales derived from DSM III-R. The checklist has been found to have good criterion and congruent validity and good test-retest reliability. Data regarding interrater reliability and the sensitivity and specificity of the scale are presented, as are implications for future research.

Adolescent↗

Infant C677T MTHFR polymorphism and severe mental retardation.

BACKGROUND: We investigated whether infants with homozygous genotype TT of the MTHFR gene were at increased risk of severe mental retardation. METHODS: One hundred children with severe mental retardation (cases) were investigated from a large geographic-based study of infants born in California in 1992-1993. Cases were compared to 743 randomly selected nonmalformed control infants born in California during 1987-1991. DNA was extracted from newborn screening filter papers. Cases and controls were genotyped TT if homozygous for the MTHFR C677T allele, CT if heterozygous for the C677T allele, and CC if homozygous for the C677 (wild type) allele. RESULTS: Overall, case and control infants had similar percentages of TT and CT genotypes. Percentages between cases and controls differed somewhat across race/ethnic groups. Elevated ORs of 1.9 (95% CI: 0.7-5.0) and 2.6 (95% CI: 1.1-5.8) were observed for the TT and CT genotypes, respectively, among Hispanic children. Observed results were not substantially altered for analyses that removed 41 case children who also had structural birth defects. CONCLUSIONS: Folate-related mechanisms are important to investigate for etiologies of birth defects, and such lines of inquiry may be revealing for mental retardation given the relationships between mental retardation and birth defects and potential relationships between folate, DNA methylation, and mental retardation.

Alleles↗

Socioeconomic status and the prevalence of mental retardation in Bangladesh.

Results of a population-based study of the prevalence of mental retardation among 2- to 9-year-old children in Bangladesh were reported. More than 10,000 children were screened for mental retardation and other disabilities. All children with positive screening results plus a random sample with negative results were referred for clinical evaluations. The prevalence rates per 1,000 of severe and mild mental retardation in this population were 5.9 and 14.4, respectively. As found in studies in developed countries, the prevalence of mild mental retardation was strongly and significantly associated with low socioeconomic status, whereas the association for severe mental retardation was relatively weak and not significant.

Bangladesh↗

The relationship of depression to social skills and intellectual functioning in mentally retarded adults.

Ninety-nine mild to severely mentally retarded adults were evaluated on a variety of measures. The battery included the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised (PPVT), the Psychopathology Instrument for Mentally Retarded Adults, the Social Performance Survey Schedule, Hamilton Rating Scale of Depression, the Beck Depression Inventory and Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale. Depression and social skills measures correlated significantly with each other on self-report and informant reports. Receptive vocabulary did not significantly correlate with depression or social skills measures, irrespective of self or other report format. Additionally, demographic variables such as intellectual level were not significant. The PPVT mean scores differed significantly by level of mental retardation as might be expected. The significance of these data and their implication for further study are reviewed.

Adolescent↗

Symptoms of major depression in mentally retarded adults.

A total of 32 mentally retarded adults currently suffering from major depression were examined for the prevalence of typical and atypical depressive symptoms. In contrast to persons with severe mental handicap, all those with mild handicap could be assessed using almost all DSM-III-R diagnostic criteria. A depressive syndrome with increased irritableness and psychomotor agitation was found in more cases of severe than mild handicap. Both groups revealed atypical symptoms; these were more frequent amongst the severely handicapped. The atypical symptoms were mostly emerged or increased behaviour problems, and rarely a loss of adaptive behaviour. The onset of new behaviour problems appeared equally in both groups, whereas an increase in existing behaviour problems seems typical for severe handicapped subjects. The diagnosis of major depression in mentally retarded adults should consider these features.

Adult↗

Disregulation of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in the mentally retarded.

Previous reports of cognitive and social improvement in the mentally retarded after administration of MSH/ACTH fragments suggested disregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. The current study examined the integrity of this system with the Dexamethasone Suppression Test (DST). The DST is a biological index of HPA integrity and recently has been used as a diagnostic aid for endogenous depression. Thirty-five mentally retarded patients were administered 1 mg of dexamethasone just after a sample of blood was taken. Blood samples were analyzed for cortisol by RIA at 11:00 p.m. (basal), 8:00 a.m., 4:00 p.m., and 10:00 p.m. Between 40% and 48% (depending on sampling) of the patients failed to suppress cortisol (greater than 4 micrograms/dl), after the DST challenge. The results suggested that a significant proportion of mentally retarded patients have a DST index reflecting a disordered HPA axis and complements earlier studies of cognitive enhancement observed after treatment with MSH/ACTH fragments. The possibility that the stress of hospitalization was related to a disordered HPA was suggested. The possible co-existence of depression in the mentally retarded invites further study.

Adult↗

Associated neuropsychiatric problems in Swedish school children with mild mental retardation.

A total of 83 mildly mentally retarded children aged 13-17 years were examined. These children are considered representative of all clearly mildly mentally retarded children born in 1966-1970 and living in Göteborg, Sweden. Fifty-seven per cent of the children were suffering from a handicapping psychiatric condition. Epilepsy and male sex were found to be associated with psychiatric abnormality.

Adolescent↗

The definition and classification of mental retardation.

Problems with current definitions of mental retardation were recognized. Classification systems based on the behavioral capabilities of retarded persons were criticized since there are so many noncognitive determinants of performance. It was proposed that mental retardation be defined solely by IQ scores at least 2 SDs below the population mean. This suggestion was predicated on the view that the behavioral sciences currently have no better way to assess intellectual functioning. Etiology was seen as such a significant predictor of group differences that the organic, familial, and undifferentiated categories would be used in classification. Social adaptation and expected performance were seen as correlates of class membership rather than defining features of retardation, since they have no reliable method of measurement. Problems of labeling were discussed, but the practice was deemed useful if it leads to beneficial services and interventions.

Child↗

Cryptorchidism in mental retardation.

We surveyed 148 institutionalized male subjects to study the prevalence of cryptorchidism among mentally retarded individuals. Of the patients 121 (81.7 per cent) were profoundly (intelligence quotient 19 or less), 21 severely (20 to 35), 5 moderately (36 to 51) and 1 mildly (65) retarded. Patient age ranged from 1 to 36 years (mean 13.6 means). According to the etiology of the mental retardation the cases were classified into 6 categories: chromosomal aberrations, single gene disorders, polygenic conditions, teratogen-induced anomalies, perinatal/postnatal injuries and idiopathic mental retardation. Cryptorchidism was found in 44 individuals (39.7 per cent), and was bilateral 3.4 times more often than unilateral. Cerebral palsy occurred in 88 patients. There were 36 patients with cryptorchidism and cerebral palsy, representing 41 per cent of the patients with cerebral palsy and 81.8 per cent of the cryptorchid group (p equals 0.0006). Among the noncryptorchid male subjects 52 (50 per cent) had cerebral palsy. Epilepsy also was more frequent in the cryptorchid group (p equals 0.0333). The cryptorchid and noncryptorchid groups did not show a significant difference in the etiology of mental retardation except in the perinatal/postnatal category in which cryptorchidism was more frequent (p equals 0.025), and in the polygenic category in which all 9 patients were noncryptorchid. This study shows a high prevalence of cryptorchidism in individuals with profound and severe mental retardation, and particularly in those having cerebral palsy.

Adolescent↗