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An interview with pupils of the classes 8-12 was made in order to find out the frequency, the begin and the motivation of smoking in a rural district. Simultaneously the consumption of cigarettes in relation to the learning-results were examined among smokers and nonsmokers.
The authors have successfully utilised the technique of photocoagulation of iris in 35 cases for improving the visual acuity in cases suffering from ocular leprosy. The photocoagulation was considered to be very useful in cases with corneal scars, highly vascularised adherent leukomas, where keratoplasty stands a poor risk. It has also been recommended for cases with pinpoint pupil not dilating with drugs for diagnostic and prognostic value.
The beta-adrenoceptor antagonist Timolol Maleate (0.5%) was employed topically to determine whether the resting (or "tonic") position of accommodation is a consequence of steady-state equilibrium between parasympathetic and sympathetic innervation of the ciliary muscle. Ten subjects were used, eight men and two women, with an age range of 19-37 (mean = 23.2). All subjects wore an optimum refractive correction giving visual acuities of 20/20 or better. Darkroom measurements of tonic accommodation (TA), tonic vergence (TV), and pupil diameter were determined with a Badal laser optometer , a nonius alignment device and infra-red photography, respectively. Far and near points of accommodation and oculo-motor balance tests were determined by standard optometric techniques and intraocular pressure (IOP) was measured by applanation tonometry. Both TA (mean = 1.66 D) and TV (mean = 2.10 deg) assumed intermediate resting positions in the absence of visual stimulation. A double-blind protocol between Timolol and Saline demonstrated a mean myopic shift in TA of +0.85 D over 40 min with Timolol. All other experimental parameters, apart from IOP, were unaffected by Timolol. It is concluded that sympathetic innervation to the ciliary muscle plays a significant role in determining the TA position and that this innervation is mediated by inhibitory beta adrenoceptors.
In a clinical examination of 174 15-year old pupils approximately 62 per cent showed some degree of gingival recession on the labial surfaces of maxillary teeth. The number of affected teeth per individual was low, one tooth in about 35 per cent and teeth in 25 per cent of the individuals. First molars and first premolars were the teeth most often affected. The majority of the defects were not extensive, i.e. the gingival margin was situated at the cemento-enamel junction. The number of cases affected by recession was lower in individuals using an "unspecific" toothbrushing technique compared with those using roll or vibratory technique. This difference may not be due to the technique but rather to a minor interest in oral hygiene measures in the "unspecific" groups. No statistically significant correlation was found between frequencies of recession and the stiffness of the toothbrushes used.
It is demonstrated that physical disabilities involving motor deficits automatically result in communicative limitations which become particularly evident in calsses. As a rule, the consequences of a slow writing performance due to physical disability are a decrease in performance. The supply of intellectually normal but severely physically handicapped pupils with adequate technical aids designed to compensate for their disabilities is, therefore, a necessity which improves their educational opportunities. With the help of an adjusted and technically supplemented tape recorder it is demonstrated in how far a technical apparatus can become the "tool" of a special education teacher.
A hearing screening survey was conducted among the primary school students in Alexandria. It aimed at measuring the prevalence of hearing impairment among students and studying the predisposing factors of hearing problems. The schools of the middle educational region were selected to carry out the study. Hearing tests; audiometry and tympanometry, were used to screen 196 students from different types of schools (113, 55 and 28 students from governmental, language and private schools respectively). A questionnaire was introduced to a subsample of those students (n = 141) including some predisposing factors of hearing problems and answered by parents. The physical environment of schools was studied including noise level, ventilation and crowding. The obtained results showed that the prevalence of failed students in audiometry and tympanometry was 24.49 % and 36.22 % respectively. Moreover, the prevalence of pupils who failed in both tests was 7.65 %. Boys were more likely to have hearing impairments than girls. Positive family history of deafness early in life and the continuous complaining of nasal obstruction were significantly related to hearing impairments among students. A very small percentage of parents (4.17 %) were aware of the presence of a hearing problem in their children. Furthermore, 48 % of failed students in audiometry were poor achievers in schools as stated by their teachers. The study of physical environment in schools revealed noise levels (inside and outside classes) above the acceptable but still within the permissible level. On the other hand, crowding at schools, as measured by the per capita space area, showed a significant association with the hearing problems in students. It is recommended to improve awareness of parents and teachers through health education programs. Screening questionnaire can develop an at risk concept for children, as the use of specialist otologists for screening is likely to be very expensive and they must be considered as first point of referral after screening.
Sufficient mydriasis is essential for the success of ECCE implantation. Author describes the technique along with the results of ECCE performed on 42 eyes with rigidly narrow pupils, which hasn't reacted to mydriatics. In these patients he performed iridectomy followed by iridoplasty. In part of the group he used his own technique based on McCannell suture. With this simple method he achieved very good results and recommends its use.
Deficient mydriasis of diverse etiology renders extracapsular cataract extraction and posterior chamber intraocular lens implantation technically difficult. Several techniques are available to improve surgical results when this problem is present. We have used multiple sphincterotomies in 6 patients with narrow pupils undergoing cataract extraction. We discuss the indications, intraoperative complications and postoperatory evolution of these cases.
A questionnaire survey of 713 pupils of Secondary Schools in Bo town, Southern Sierra Leone, on tobacco and cannabis smoking was carried out in January and February 1994. There were 56.8% males and 43.2% females with a mean age of 17.6 +/- 1.5 years. Lifetime use of both substances was 9% while current use was 4.2%. Current use of cigarettes was 3.2% and of cannabis 2.2%. Forty percent of current users smoked both cigarettes and cannabis. The mean age of onset of smoking was 15.1 +/- 3.1 years. Males smoked significantly more than females (p < 0.001). The prevalence of smoking increased with age and from junior to senior forms. There was also a higher prevalence among muslim students. Smoking within the family was a significant determinant of smoking in School children (p < 0.01). Current smokers were less aware of the health hazards of smoking but the majority of previous smokers stopped the habit because they thought it was bad for their health. In spite of these relatively rates, it is recommended that appropriate health education programme on tobacco and cannabis smoking be incorporated into school curricula. Further studies are indicated in more urbanized areas and in colleges.
We investigated the correlation between intelligence quotient and school performance evaluated by PRS (the Pupil Rating Scale Revised) to assess an adequacy of two-axial diagnosis of learning disabilities (LD). The subjects were 37 children, including 31 cases with developmental or school problems and 6 normal children. The Japanese Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) was employed for an estimation of intelligence quotient (IQ) and, PRS was used to evaluate school performance. We defined 'LD risk child' as a child whose IQ was no less than 70 and PRS score was no more than 65. A statistical evaluation of IQ and PRS was done in this group separately. Ten children were diagnosed as 'LD risk' using this criterion. Fourteen children had normal IQ, and thirteen children were mentally retarded. There was a significant correlation (r = 0.68, P < 0.001) between IQ and the PRS score in these 37 children. On the other hand, no significant correlation was found between IQ and the PRS score of the 'LD risk child'. This result suggests that we can expect high PRS score in proportion to their IQ level. Because LD children generally tend to demonstrate deviated IQ-school performance correlation, we conclude that the WISC-R and PRS are appropriate for two-axial screening of LD.
Although adolescence is most commonly associated with risk-taking behaviour, mortality due to poverty-related conditions is high among black African children aged 10-14 years. This paper describes a study carried out in October 1991 to assess the physical health status of 860 underprivileged pupils aged 10-14 years in Standards 3-5 at three schools in New Crossroads, near Cape Town. Data on nutritional status, age at menarche, blood pressure, eyesight, physical abnormalities, injuries and use of hospitals were obtained. The response rate was 90%. Of all the children, 7.2% were below the 5th percentile weight-for-age. The proportion of boys (13.1%) below the 5th percentile weight-for-age was significantly higher than that of girls (3.7%). Of all the children, 19.5% were below the 5th percentile height-for-age. The proportion of boys (24.4%) below the 5th percentile height-for-age was also significantly higher than that of girls (16.7%). The average age at menarche was 13 years, similar to that (12.8 years) reported for the UK. In 5% of the children, the diastolic blood pressure was > 90 mmHg and the findings show some increase with age. Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital accounted for 30.9% of hospital attendances. 'Chest' complaints (19.5%) were frequent reasons for consultations, while 15.2% of the children reported being injured, with car accidents (16.0%), fractures (27.5%) and burns (20.6%) being the most common injuries. It is suggested that the provision of a 24-hour day hospital will ease the load on the referral hospital, i.e. Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
The pupil cycle time (PCT) was estimated in 384 leprosy patients whose eyes looked normal on clinical examination and in an equal number of healthy controls. A statistically significant increase in PCT (p < 0.05) was noticed in leprosy patients, and corroborates the view that the ocular autonomic system may be affected without any visible clinical pathology in the eye. The clinical value and application of this finding is uncertain since the difference is only a few milliseconds. Young females with leprosy showed a conspicuous lengthening of PCT for which no plausible explanation is offered. There was a general trend for the PCT to increase as the spectrum of disease moved toward the lepromatous pole and a significantly higher PCT (p < 0.01) was found among multibacillary patients compared to paucibacillary patients. Patients who had had erythema nodosum leprosum (ENL) reactions showed a higher PCT than did those who had not had ENL. Patients who had had reversal reactions showed a decrease in PCT, which may be a statistical oddity in this hospital-based study. Patients whose duration of the disease was over 10 years showed a higher PCT, while smear positivity of a patient did not alter the PCT significantly.
Studies on height, weight and skinfolds in four anatomical regions have been made on groups of South African Black, Coloured, Indian, and White pupils of 17 years. Examination of weight for height compared with weight for age data have revealed high percentages of obesity particularly in non-White groups. Obesity is not only reflected in higher mean umbilical skinfold values found in the short, lighter urban Indian, also Coloured and Black girls, compared with taller, heavier White girls, but in high percentages of body weight as fat. There was an unexpected similarity of mean triceps skinfold values in the different ethnic groups. It is suggested that the problem of overweight and obesity in adolescent subjects, who remain underheight, whether from nutritional, genetic or adverse environmental factors, may be aggravated by school feeding schemes, as once the physiological demands of the pubertal growth spurt have been met, obesity is occurring in these former so called malnourished groups. The obesity occurs without dietary intervention.
Energy expenditure, physical and mental capacity for work, ascorbic acid excretion, basic foodstuff supply were investigated in 7-9-year-old pupils from boarding schools. Specific features of the alimentary state of the children were used as a basis for working out hygienic recommendations to improve children's diets and health.
OBJECTIVE: It was hypothesized that swimming velocity (V) and stroking parameters such as stroke length (SL), stroke rate (SR) and stroke index (SI) are influenced by age, gender, and some anthropometric characteristics. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: Grammar school pupils from French schools. PARTICIPANTS: One thousand and ninety-seven males and 961 females non skilled swimmers aged from 11 to 17. INTERVENTIONS: Usual swimming sessions (6 +/- 2 h.year-1) during a physical education program at school. MEASURES: V, SL, SF and SI (SI = V.SL) were measured or calculated from a 50-m crawl sprint and height, arm span and body mass were measured for all subjects. RESULTS: The results showed that V, SL and SI increased regularly (p < 0.01) in relation to age in both genders. SL was never significantly different between males and females. SF remained unchanged according to age and was significantly higher in males than in females. V, SL and SI were influenced by age and arm span but not SF. CONCLUSIONS: As males and females were submitted to the same swimming teaching program at school, a higher increase in muscle power and anaerobic capacity in males could explain the gender differences. These results observed in non skilled swimmers showed that the differences in stroking parameters between genders were the reverse of those of top level swimmers and that they can be used by swimming teachers in order to build some assessment tools and to better understand the improvements in swimming in relation to growth and gender.
Poor oral hygiene and a high prevalence of marginal gingivitis are characteristic findings in handicapped persons. The present double-blind, cross-over study was to evaluate a twice daily mouth rinse of 10ml 0.2 per cent chlorhexidine on plaque and gingivitis in physically handicapped pupils aged 6 to 21 years. The plaque index (PI) and gingival index (GI) at baselines were relatively lower than in other published studies. For PI the mean score did not exceed 1.0 at any time; for GI the same was true except for tooth 16 which was 1.1. Only mild gingival inflammation was present. The chlorhexidine rinse produced 34 per cent to 54 per cent improvement in PI values and 48 per cent to 52 per cent improvement in GI values. Highly statistically significant effects were seen for treatment and time but there was no significant learning effect. Whether the children lived at home or at the study school had no significant effect. The chlorhexidine rinse may be successfully used in physically handicapped children but the low gingival inflammation in the group suggests that simple oral hygiene improvement might produce the same effect.
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