Otitis media in early childhood and its relationship to later verbal and academic performance

The relationship between the occurrence of otitis media with effusion during the first 3 years of life and subsequent verbal and academic performance was examined in 61 socioeconomically disadvantaged children who attended a research day-care program. Study children were participants in a longitudinal study of child development in which the number of episodes of otitis media and duration of each otitis episode were reported prospectively from infancy. The incidence of otitis media was highest during the first 2 years of life. Bilateral otitis media accounted for 66% of the days with otitis media with effusion. Standardized tests of intelligence and academic performance were administered to the children when they were 3 1/2 to 6 years of age. No evidence of associations between measures of early childhood otitis media experience and these measures of verbal or academic functioning was found in this study population.     

Behavioral and cognitive status in school-aged children with a history of failure to thrive during early childhood

Twenty-seven school children (aged 8-12 years) earlier diagnosed with nonorganic failure to thrive (FTT) were compared with a normal socioeconomically matched control group (N=17) on current height and weight parameters as well as cognitive, achievement, and behavioral measures from the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). The former FTT children were, on average, smaller, less cognitively able, and more behaviorally disturbed than the control children and national normative samples. Sixty percent of former FTT children were below the 20th percentile in height and 48% were below the 20th percentile in weight; 52% had IQs below 80 and 30% had reading standard scores below 80; 48% had clinically adverse attention ratings and 30% had clinically adverse aggression ratings on the CBCL. Within the FTT sample, however, there were no significant associations between current growth measures and cognitive/achievement outcome measures. Mothers' IQs provided the strongest prediction of the FTT children's reading scores. The mothers of the FTT children had not achieved as high levels of education as the mothers of the control children, and more of them were single parents. Early growth problems put children at high risk for multiple adverse sequelae in middle childhood, especially if mothers are poorly educated. Careful ongoing follow-up of such children by pediatricians is encouraged.     

Otitis media of infancy and early childhood. A double-blind study of four treatment regimens.

A double-blind, randomized trial of four antimicrobial regimens was conducted in 383 infants and children with acute otitis media. The drugs used were penicillin V, amoxicillin trihydrate, erythromycin estolate, and erythromycin estolate with trisulfapyrimidines. Aspiration of middle ear fluid for culture was done before treatment and repeated during treatment if fluid persisted. Etiologic bacteria were most commonly pneumococci (31%) or Haemophilus sp (22%), and an additional 5% of patients had both organisms. Amoxicillin was the most effective in promoting initial response in pneumococcal infection. For Haemophilus infections, the cure rates with amoxicillin and the erythromycin-trisulfapyrimidines mixture were significantly better than with the other two regimens, and serous otitis did not occur during the follow-up period; however, new episodes of otitis were comparable in the four groups. Amoxicillin and the erythromycin estolate-trisulfapyrimidines combination appear to be somewhat more effective than penicillin V or erythromycin estolate.     

Asthma in the school-aged child

Understanding the role of inflammation in childhood asthma has led to major changes in the approach to management of this disease. Based on the guidelines from the NIH, inhaled long-term control medications that target the underlying inflammatory processes in asthma are now recommended as the mainstay of drug treatment. Long-term control medications are recommended for all children who have asthma symptoms that occur more frequently than twice weekly or nocturnal symptoms more than twice monthly. Environmental control measures to decrease allergen exposure are important, as is attention to sinusitis and GER. The main impediment to improved asthma care is poor patient compliance. Many patients do not understand the role and importance of prophylactic medications in asthma treatment. Further, inconvenient dosing regimens, difficulties with metered-dose inhalers, and fear of potential side effects have all contributed to poor patient compliance. Increased efforts at patient education are needed to improve adherence to asthma plans. These efforts at improving patient compliance, along with improved physician adherence to the guidelines from the NIH, are needed to decrease the morbidity and mortality of childhood asthma.     

Short term effects of methylphenidate on the cognitive, learning and academic performance of children with attention deficit disorder in the laboratory and the classroom

Sixteen children meeting diagnostic criteria for Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity (ADD-H) were tested on methylphenidate (0.3 mg/kg) and placebo on cognitive, learning, academic and behavioral measures in a double-blind study. Assessments were carried out in the laboratory and in the children's regular classrooms. Results indicate methylphenidate-induced improvements on a majority of the measures. Drug-induced changes reflected increased output, accuracy and efficiency and improved learning acquisition. There was also evidence of increased effort and self-correcting behaviours. It is argued that reviewers have underestimated the potential of stimulants to improve the performance of ADD-H children on academic, learning and cognitive tasks.     

Abusive early child rearing and early childhood aggression

Childhood aggression is significant for children, their families, and the society because aggressive children often become violent adolescents. This article examines the relationship between maltreatment and early childhood aggression. Data are from a longitudinal study of maltreated and nonmaltreated children assessed as preschoolers and again at school age. The dependent variable is the child's teacher's rating of aggression at school age. The independent variables are from preschool and school age observations of the mother-child interaction and the mother's report of physical discipline practices. Using structural equation modeling, harshness of interaction at preschool age but not school age and severity of physical discipline at school age but not preschool age, relate to aggression at school age. Results suggest a difference in the developmental stage at which different features of harsh child rearing exert their influence. Strategies for intervening to prevent the development of childhood aggression are suggested.     

Otitis media associated with Vibrio alginolyticus in a child with pressure-equalizing tubes

Vibrio alginolyticus is an unusual cause of otitis media. Infection usually occurs in the presence of a chronically perforated eardrum or patent pressure-equalizing tube. Infection with V. alginolyticus can occur after even mild, brief exposure to seawater, and the interval between exposure to seawater and onset of clinical infection can be prolonged.     

Otitis media and language performance in a cohort of Apache Indian children

Language performance was evaluated in 167 healthy Apache Indian children aged 6 to 8 years, who had contrasting histories of otitis media and who had been followed since birth. All children received pneumatic otoscopy, tympanometry, pure tone audiometry, and a battery of language measures. Groups were similar with respect to age, sex, school experience, family income, housing, primary language spoken, and nonverbal intelligence. No statistically or clinically significant differences in language performance were observed between groups of children with frequent episodes of otitis media and those from the same cohort with infrequent otitis. While frequent otitis media was associated with abnormalities on tympanometry and otoscopy, bilateral hearing loss (greater than 25 dB) was observed in only 1% of the children.     

Temperament issues in the school-aged child.

Children's temperament continues to make a significant contribution to their physical health, development, and behavior as they progress into later childhood and adolescence. The definition of temperament as behavioral style remains the same, although the relative importance of the several dimensions shifts, factors affecting it broaden, its stability increases, and its measurement becomes more complex. An important role has been established for temperament in behavior problems through childhood but less so for new ones in adolescence, in several aspects of physical health and some other areas such as coping or adaptive style. This article stresses the strong influence that temperament has on school performance and emphasizes the probability that many children who are now said to have the disorder of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder are likely to have normal neurologic function and a temperament that does not fit well with the demands of the modern school environment.     

Low-level lead exposure and cognitive development in early childhood

The authors studied toddlers with low-level lead exposure to determine whether adverse developmental effects were evident. The study sample consisted of a cohort of 68 children aged 12 to 36 months who had blood lead levels lower than 25 microg/dL on a routine screening in a large urban public hospital clinic. Children with blood lead levels between 10 and 24.9 microg/dL had a mean Mental Developmental Index (Bayley Scales of Infant Development, Second Edition) score that was 6.3 points lower than that of children with blood lead levels between 0 and 9.9 microg/dL (95% confidence interval: 0.6, 11.9). After adjusting for confounders, the difference was 6.2 points (95% confidence interval: 1.7, 10.8). Pediatricians and public health entities should continue in their efforts to reduce the lead burden through environmental control and ongoing surveillance.     

Common behavioral dilemmas of the school-aged child

PCPs are typically the first professionals to come into contact with children who have behavioral or developmental problems. The most common behavioral concerns that PCPs encounter in the pediatric primary care setting include noncompliance, temper tantrums, and problems with eating and sleeping routines. To adequately detect these types of problems, it essential that PCPs incorporate behavioral assessment procedures (eg, clinical interviews, behavior rating scales, ABC recording form) into the consultation process. Behavioral assessment procedures are useful in identifying the environmental events (ie, antecedents and consequences) that may be maintaining the problem behavior. Data that are collected from behavioral assessment can be used to develop a tentative hypothesis on functions of the behavioral problem. By identifying the potential function of the behavior, more effective behavioral management strategies can be developed. An existing model of behavioral consultation can be used by PCPs during office visits to more effectively identify and manage many of the common and less severe behavioral problems.     

Effect of early childhood adversity on child health

OBJECTIVE: To examine the effect of child abuse and other household dysfunction on child health outcomes. DESIGN: Data from the Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect collected through interviews and questionnaires administered when target children were 4 years old and 6 years old. SETTING: Children in the South, East, Midwest, Northwest, and Southwest United States. PARTICIPANTS: One thousand forty-one children at high risk for child abuse and neglect (3 cohorts derived primarily from among children recruited through social service mechanisms, 1 cohort recruited at birth from among high-risk infants, and 1 cohort recruited from a medical setting). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: (1) Association of 7 adverse exposures (3 categories of child abuse [physical abuse, sexual abuse, and psychological maltreatment] and 4 categories of household dysfunction [caregiver problem drinking, caregiver depression, caregiver treated violently, and criminal behavior in the household]) derived from data collected when the child was 4 years old. (2) Indexes of child physical health at age 6 years (caregiver overall assessment of child health and reports of illness requiring medical attention). RESULTS: Two thirds of the sample had experienced at least 1 adverse exposure. One adverse exposure almost doubled the risk of overall poor health (odds ratio, 1.89; 95% confidence interval, 1.02-3.48), and 4 adverse exposures or more almost tripled the risk of illness requiring medical attention (odds ratio, 2.83; 95% confidence interval, 1.10-7.31). CONCLUSION: Adverse environmental exposures, including child abuse and other household dysfunction, are associated with poor child health even at an early age, although our data do not support a dose-response relationship.     

养育环境与儿童早期发展的相关性

目的:探讨儿童养育环境的影响因素及其与儿童早期发展的相关性。方法:采用分层整群随机抽样方法,于2017年在上海16个区抽取187所幼儿园共22509名新入园儿童,对其家长进行问卷调查。采用育儿环境指数(ICCE)评估儿童家庭养育环境,采用人类早期能力指数了解儿童早期发展情况。根据ICCE分数在人群中的分布将被调查儿童分为4组,家庭养育环境最差组(≤10分)、中下组(11分)、中上组(12分)、最好组(13分)。分别使用线性回归模型和Logistic回归模型分析影响养育环境的相关因素以及养育环境对儿童早期发展的影响。结果:共22067名儿童完成本次调查,年龄(44±7)月龄,男11425名(51.8%),女10642名(48.2%)。多元线性回归分析结果显示,女孩、母亲教育程度高、家庭年收入高、独生子女、父母非离异及早期母乳喂养经历是新入园学龄前儿童家庭养育环境的保护因素[β=0.064、0.238、0.119、0.096、0.113、0.032,95%可信区间(CI):0.020~0.108、0.175~0.302、0.058~0.180、0.046~0.146、-0.012~0.242、-0.051~0.116,均P<0.01]。多因素Logistic回归分析显示,相较于养育环境最好组,养育环境中上组、中下组和最差组早期发展高危风险均更高,OR值分别为1.543(95%CI:1.373~1.735,P<0.01),2.537(95%CI:2.254~2.856,P<0.01)和4.198(95%CI:3.757~4.690,P<0.01)。结论:养育环境不仅与家庭结构及社会经济因素有关,且与早期母乳喂养经历显著相关。而良好的家庭养育环境对儿童早期发展促进具有重要的意义。     

Seizure and cognitive outcomes of epilepsy surgery in infancy and early childhood

AimsTo investigate seizure and developmental outcomes following epilepsy surgery in very young children and determine their predictive factors.MethodsWe retrospectively reviewed the clinical data, surgical variables, and outcomes of 30 children under 3 years of age that underwent resection for refractory focal epilepsy in our institution in 2001–2011.ResultsSeizure onset was in the first year of life in 27 (90%) cases and mean age at surgery was 20 months (range 5–33.6). Pathology consisted of cortical malformations in 24 (80%) cases, glioneuronal tumour and infarction with or without cortical dysplasia in three (10%) cases each. Morbidity was comparable with older paediatric cohorts. At 1–11.6 year follow-up (mean 4.1) 21 of 30 (70%) children achieved seizure freedom (Engel I), six (20%) demonstrated worthwhile improvement (Engel II/III) and three (10%) did not benefit from surgery (Engel IV). Intralobar lesionectomy more often resulted in seizure freedom than multilobar or hemispheric surgery. The abundance of non-regional interictal and ictal EEG findings did not preclude seizure freedom. Presurgical developmental impairment was established in 25 of 28 (89%) children; its severity correlated with longer epilepsy duration and determined postoperative developmental outcome. Developmental progress was established in 26 out of 28 (93%) children following surgery, showing stabilized trajectories rather than catch-up.ConclusionsResective surgery in very young children is safe and effective in terms of seizure control and developmental progress. Our findings underline the importance of early intervention in order to timely stop seizures and their deleterious effects on the developing brain.