Academic achievement in children with epilepsy or asthma

The purposes of the study were to compare academic achievement between children with epilepsy and those with asthma and to identify child perception, school adaptive functioning, and condition severity factors related to academic achievement. Subjects were 225 children (117 with epilepsy and 108 with asthma) aged between 8 and 12 years. Academic achievement was measured using school-administered group tests. Self-report questionnaires were used to measure child attitudes and school self-concept. Teachers rated school adaptive functioning. Data were analyzed using ANCOVA and multiple regression. Children with epilepsy had significantly lower achievement scores than children with asthma. Boys with severe epilepsy were most at risk for underachievement. Factors related to poor academic achievement in both samples were: high condition severity, negative attitudes, and lower school adaptive functioning scores. Less variance was accounted for in the model for epilepsy ( R ²=0.25) than for asthma ( R ²=0.36). Boys with high seizure severity were most at risk for achievement-related problems. Future research in epilepsy should consider additional factors in the model predicting academic achievement.     

Childhood epilepsy and asthma: changes in behavior problems related to gender and change in condition severity

PURPOSE: We conducted a 4-year follow-up study of behavior problems in children with either epilepsy (n = 115) or asthma (n = 105) to identify changes in behavior problems as they were related to gender and change in condition severity. All children were between ages 8 and 13 years and had been diagnosed with their respective conditions for >/=1 year at entry into the study. METHODS: Behavior problems were measured by using the mother's rating on the Child Behavior Checklist. Baseline and follow-up behavior problem scores were examined to see if significant changes occurred over the observation period of the study. To explore change in behavior based on condition severity, each child was placed into "low" and "high" condition severity groups at each time, resulting in four groups: low/low, low/high, high/low, or high/high. There were too few cases in the low/high group to be included in some analyses. Data were analyzed by using analysis of covariance with adjustment for baseline behaviors, age, and age of onset. RESULTS: Within both samples, there was a significant improvement over time for the Total Behavior Problems and Internalizing Problems scores (p 相似文献   

Academic Achievement of Children with Epilepsy

The academic achievement scores of 122 children with epilepsy were examined in relation to demographic and clinical seizure variables. As a group, these children were making less academic progress than expected for their age and IQ level. Academic deficiencies were greatest in arithmetic, followed by spelling, reading, comprehension, and word recognition. Results of the multiple regression analyses indicated a modest combined predictive significance of the demographic and clinical seizure variables for academic performance. In addition, the magnitude of these relationships varied by academic area. Among the individual variables examined the strongest correlates of academic performance were age of the child, age of seizure onset, lifetime total seizure frequency, and presence of multiple seizures (absence and tonic-clonic). These results are discussed in relation to developing an understanding of the factors which underlie academic vulnerability in children with epilepsy.     

Academic underachievement in children with epilepsy

Academic achievement was studied in 78 children with epilepsy, ages 5 to 13 years, to determine how seizures, treatment of seizures, and sociocultural factors influence academic achievement. Cognitive abilities were assessed with either the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities or the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children--Revised. Achievement was measured with the Peabody Individual Achievement Tests. Achievement scores were corrected for cognitive ability (IQ), and underachievement was defined as achievement score 1/2 standard deviation or more below IQ. Information regarding seizure history (severity, duration) and treatment with anticonvulsant drugs was obtained. In addition, the family was extensively interviewed regarding the child's environment, behavior, and demographic background. The Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME) scale was completed on a home visit. Underachievement was frequent, ranging from 16% (Reading Recognition) to 50% (General Knowledge), but there was no relationship between severity or duration of seizure disorder or total exposure to anticonvulsant medications and achievement. Major determinants of achievement included subscales of the HOME scale, age (older children more likely to be underachieving), and parental education. An equal proportion of newly diagnosed and/or untreated subjects were underachieving compared to those with longstanding epilepsy and anticonvulsant drug treatment.     

Language in pediatric epilepsy

Purpose:   This study examined the severity and range of linguistic impairments in young, intermediate, and adolescent youth with epilepsy and how these deficits were associated with illness effects, nonverbal intelligence, psychopathology, and reading.
Methods:   Tests of language, intelligence, achievement, and structured psychiatric interviews were administered to 182 epilepsy youth, aged 6.3–8.1, 9.1–11.7, and 13.0–15.2 years, as well as to 102 age- and gender-matched normal children. Parents provided demographic, seizure-related, and behavioral information on their children.
Results:   Significantly more epilepsy subjects had language scores 1 standard deviation (SD) below average than the age-matched control groups did. The intermediate and adolescent epilepsy groups also had significantly lower mean language scores compared to their matched controls. The older compared to the younger epilepsy groups had more language impairment and a wider range of linguistic deficits. Longer duration of illness, childhood absence epilepsy, psychiatric diagnosis, and socioeconomic status were associated with linguistic deficits in the young group. Prolonged seizures, lower Performance IQ, and minority status predicted low language scores in the intermediate epilepsy group. In the adolescent group, language impairment was associated with poor seizure control, decreased Performance IQ, and lower socioeconomic status. Linguistic and reading deficits were significantly related in each epilepsy group.
Conclusions:   The age-related increase in linguistic impairment, different profiles of predictors in each age group, and the relationship of linguistic deficits with poor reading skills have important clinical, developmental, theoretical, and academic implications.     

Factors Associated with Academic Achievement in Children with Controlled Epilepsy

Children with epilepsy are at risk for academic underachievement. Multiple etiologies for this academic vulnerability have been suggested by past research including lower self-esteem, inattention, memory inefficiency, and lower socioeconomic status. The present study assessed 65 children (mean age = 10 years, 5 months) with well-controlled epilepsy on the four primary factors, as well as academic achievement and intelligence. A stepwise regression analysis was employed with academic achievement as the dependent variable and measures of self-esteem, attention, memory, and socioeconomic status as independent variables. When intelligence was controlled, attention was the only variable associated with achievement scores. Seizure variables including seizure type and duration of epilepsy were not associated with differences in academic performance. Findings support the importance of measuring attention skills in children with epilepsy and suggest that reduced auditory attention skills may be associated with decreased academic performance in these children.     

Academic performance in children with new-onset seizures and asthma: a prospective study

The purpose of this study was to compare teachers' ratings of academic performance over 24 months between children with new-onset seizures (N=121) and those with new-onset asthma (N=54) aged 4 to 14. At each data collection point (baseline, 12 months, 24 months), children with seizures were placed into two groups according to their recurrent seizure status (yes/no) during that period. Longitudinal linear mixed models were used to explore differences between the asthma group and the two seizure groups and to determine if differences in teachers' ratings of performance in children with seizures were associated with age, gender, or use of medication. In the seizure sample, scores for children in both groups (with and without recurrent seizures) initially declined at 12 months; however, at 24 months, children who did not have recurrent seizures improved, whereas children who continued to have recurrent seizures declined. There was a trend for younger children to decline more than older children.     

The impact of childhood epilepsy on neurocognitive and behavioral performance: a prospective longitudinal study

PURPOSE: To assess neurocognitive and behavioral performance in children with idiopathic epilepsy (CWE, n = 74), their siblings without epilepsy (control, n = 23), and children with migraine (CWM, n = 13), and to identify medical factors related to learning or behavioral problems in CWE. METHODS: Subjects, ages 8-13 years with IQs of >/=80, completed a neurocognitive test battery annually for 相似文献   

Academic achievement one year after resective epilepsy surgery in children

PurposeFew studies have examined the academic functioning of children following pediatric epilepsy surgery. Although intellectual functioning has been more thoroughly investigated, children with epilepsy may experience additional difficulties with academic skills. This study examined the academic outcomes of a cohort of children who underwent pediatric epilepsy surgery on an average 1.2 (standard deviation [SD]: 0.3) years prior.MethodsParticipants were 136 children (mean age: 14.3 years, [SD]: 3.7 years) who had undergone resective epilepsy surgery. Academic functioning was assessed presurgery and postsurgery using standardized tests of reading, reading comprehension, arithmetic, and spelling.ResultsAt baseline, 65% of the children displayed low achievement (1 SD below test mean), and 28% had underachievement (1 SD below baseline IQ) in at least one academic domain. Examining change over time revealed that reading, numeral operations, and spelling significantly declined among all patients; seizure freedom at follow-up (attained in 64% of the patients) did not influence this relationship. Reading comprehension and IQ remained unchanged. Similar findings were found when examining patients with a baseline IQ of ≥ 70 and when controlling for IQ. Regression analyses revealed that after controlling for IQ, demographic and seizure-related variables were not significantly associated with academic achievement at follow-up.ConclusionsResults show baseline academic difficulties and deteriorations following surgery that go beyond IQ. Further investigations are required to determine whether the observed deteriorations result from the development of the child, the course of the disorder, or the epilepsy surgery itself. Long-term studies are warranted to identify the progression of academic achievement and whether the observed deteriorations represent a temporal disruption in function.