This study aimed to investigate the effects of an oropharyngeal motor training programme on children with Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome (OSAS) in Hong Kong.
In this retrospective study, we reviewed the outcomes of 10 children with OSAS who had received an oropharyngeal motor training programme in Occupational Therapy Department of an acute hospital in Hong Kong over a 1-year programme. Each participant attended an individual oropharyngeal motor training programme plus a follow-up session after 2 months. The training programme consisted of 10 individual mobilization exercises involving the orofacial and pharyngeal area for 45 minutes. Each exercise had to be repeated for 10 times. Three outcome measures were chosen to study the effectiveness of the training programme including tongue strength, tongue endurance level and orofacial function. Tongue strength and tongue endurance level were assessed using the Iowa Oral Pressure Instrument (IOPI). The Nordic Orofacial Test-Screening (NOT-S) Assessment was used to assess the orofacial function. Seven out of 10 participants completed the training programme and attended the follow-up session after two months.
The tongue strength and the scores of NOT-S of the 7 participants were found to have significant improvement after training. However, there was no significant difference in tongue endurance level.
The findings of this study support the role of occupational therapist in oromotor training modalities to improve the respiratory function for children with OSAS in Hong Kong.
Hip fracture is associated with excess mortalities and high rate of hospital re-admission after discharge from the indexed episode. To improve related post-discharge care, we aimed to find out characteristics that were associated with related higher rates of mortality and hospital re-admission.
This was a historical cohort study with following up of 273 patients recruited in a local rehabilitation hospital for 3 years. The outcome of interest was cumulative mortalities and hospital re-admissions in the 1st 3 years after their discharge from the rehabilitation hospital. These outcomes were collected in the hospital data warehouse – the Clinical Data Analysis and Reporting System (CDARS). Eighteen predictors, as proposed by similar studies and our own review, were retrieved from our standard clinical forms as well as from the CDARS. Binary logistic regression was used to test their association with the outcomes and to generate the respective odd ratios.
The cumulative overall mortality rates at 0.5-, 1-, 2- and 3- year after hip fracture were 7.2%, 14.0%, 24.6% and 33.4% respectively, while the cumulative “1st ever hospital readmission” at 0.5-, 1, 2- and 3- years after hip fracture were 29.4%, 41.6%, 59.4% and 71.7% respectively. The most significant predictors i) for mortality at 3- year were: “Being male” (OR 5.33), “Delayed surgery >48 hours” (OR 2.65), “pre-operation albumin level <3.5 g/dl” (OR 2.66), and, ii) for “1st ever hospital readmission” at 0.5-year was “Being Assisted walker or non-walker (after rehabilitation)” (OR 3.83).
Characteristics that define the groups of patients with hip fractures with higher mortality and rate of hospital re-admission were identified. This could help healthcare professionals to focus on target patient groups for closer monitoring and more intensive post-discharge care.
Motor coordination impairment is common in children with neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD). The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between motor coordination, cognitive ability, and academic achievement in Japanese children with neurodevelopmental disorders.
Thirty-four school-age (6–12 years old) children with neurodevelopmental disorders and 34 age-matched typically developing (TD) children were recruited in this study. Correlations between the scores of the Movement Assessment Battery for Children-2 (M-ABC2) and the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children – Second Edition (K-ABCII) that assesses cognitive abilities, and academic achievement were analyzed.
The children with neurodevelopmental disorders obtained a lower total score and all component scores on M-ABC2 compared to the TD children. In children with neurodevelopmental disorders, M-ABC2 Manual Dexterity score was significantly correlated with K-ABCII Simultaneous Processing (r = .345, p = .046), Knowledge (r = .422, p = .013), Reading (r = .342, p = .048), Writing (r = .414, p = .017), and Arithmetic (r = .443, p = .009) scores. In addition, M-ABC2 Balance score was significantly correlated with K-ABCII Learning (r = .341, p = .048), Writing (r = .493, p = .004), and Arithmetic (r = .386, p = .024) scores.
These findings stress that it is essential to accurately identify motor coordination impairments and the interventions that would consider motor coordination problems related to cognitive abilities and academic achievement in Japanese children with neurodevelopmental disorders.
Limb activation is one of the behavioural interventions to improve unilateral spatial neglect (USN). However, the effect of passive limb activation on activities of daily living (ADL) is not clear. This study examined the effect of passive limb activation by functional electrical stimulation (FES) on wheelchair driving for patients with USN, and to discuss the possibility of application of this treatment to occupational therapy.
A single subject design-baseline-intervention-baseline (ABA′), was applied to 2 stroke patients with USN. Phase A and A′ consisted of the wheelchair driving task only. Phase B consisted of the wheelchair driving task with FES. Each phase lasted for 2 weeks. The wheelchair driving task was maneuvering on a square passage in the clockwise and counter clockwise conditions for 8 minutes respectively, and four obstacles were set at each side. FES was applied to the affected forearm extensor muscles. Assessor recorded: 1) The distance participants drove wheelchair for 8 minutes, and 2) The number of collisions with obstacles and the wall, for 10 days.
For one participant, the distance of maneuvering significantly increased in phase B (p < .05.), and USN on the cognitive test in the extrapersonal space indicated a tendency to improve after phase B.
Passive limb activation by FES improved wheelchair driving and cognitive performance for patients with USN. It can be used with instruction from occupational therapists to enhance the performance on ADL.
Most parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have difficulties with the selective eating behaviour of their children. This study aimed to develop a newly designed intervention programme on improving selective eating behaviour for parents of children with ASD and evaluate its effectiveness.
The participants were 23 parents of children (aged 3–6 years) with ASD. The education programme included a session that addressed approaches to improve selective eating and attitudes at meal times, with a discussion. The intervention aimed to identify the underlying factors and approaches to improve selective eating in children and the self-efficacy of parents.
Significant differences were observed before and after the intervention in the degree of difficulty perceived by parents, their degree of self-efficacy, the number of recommendations conducted by them, their subjective view of the degree of dietary imbalance, and the number of food items consumed by their children.
We developed an interventional programme for parents of children with ASD and this programme was found to be useful. It is important for occupational therapists to consider the factors and approaches for selective eating in children with ASD in order to provide early intervention for their parents.
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