The Impact of Executive Functions on the Written Language Process: Some Evidence From Children With Writing Disabilities

2015 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anastasia Alevriadou ◽  
Stergiani Giaouri

Written language is a difficult endeavour as the demands of transcription require self-regulatory skills from a motor, cognitive and attention perspective. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relation between the Test of Writing Difficulties (Porpodas et al., 2007) and the Test of Detection and Investigation of Executive Functions (Simos et al., 2007) in a sample of 50 Greek-speaking, 5th-grade students with writing disabilities. The results of our study indicated that there were significant Pearson correlations ranging from .35 to .44 between executive functions and written expression. Furthermore, regression analysis showed that the subscales of the Test of Executive Functions had significant predictive power for spelling correctness and correction of jumbled sentences. Further implications of these findings for a school-based neuropsychological evaluation and planning of individualised educational interventions are discussed.

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuri Tashiro ◽  
Keiko Nakamura ◽  
Kaoruko Seino ◽  
Shiro Ochi ◽  
Hiroshi Ishii ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Promotion of oral health in children is recognized as one of the components of health-promoting schools (HPSs). However, few studies have addressed supportive school environments for children’s oral health. This study aimed to evaluate the status of dental caries in school children at HPSs, with the objective of examining the impact of a supportive school environment for oral health, considering the lifestyles of individual children and the socioeconomic characteristics of their communities. Methods Data of 2043 5th-grade students in 21 elementary schools in Ichikawa city between 2008 and 2013 were analyzed. Children’s oral health status was evaluated using the decayed, missing, and filled permanent teeth (DMFT) index. A self-reported lifestyle questionnaire, a survey of the school environment promoting tooth-brushing, and community socioeconomic characteristics derived from the National Census data were included in the analyses. Bivariate analyses were conducted to evaluate the children’s DMFT status, and zero-inflated negative binominal (ZINB) regression was used to assess the relationships between DMFT and other variables. Results Prevalence of dental caries in the permanent teeth of 5th-grade children (aged 10–11 years) was 33.3%, with a mean DMFT score (± SD) of 0.83 ± 1.50. According to multilevel ZINB regression analysis, children from schools with after-lunch tooth-brushing time showed a higher odds ratio (OR) for excess zero DMFT (OR = 1.47, 95% CI = 1.00–2.15, P = 0.049) as compared to those from schools without it. Neither bivariate analysis nor ZINB model analysis revealed any significant influence of children’s gender or use of a toothpaste with fluoride. Conclusions The school-based environment supportive of oral health was significantly associated with a zero DMFT status in children. School-based efforts considering the socioeconomic characteristics of the area warrant attention even with declining prevalence of dental caries.


2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 175-187
Author(s):  
Stephanie E. Pasewaldt ◽  
Stephanie L. Baller ◽  
Sarah R. Blackstone ◽  
Lucy Bryan Malenke

Proper handwashing reduces the transmission of deadly, preventable diseases. Schools, even those with limited resources, have the power to promote handwashing through simple, effective interventions. This study evaluated the impact of a school-based handwashing program consisting of two interventions: a hand-hygiene curriculum and group handwashing station. Quantitative and open-ended pre/postintervention surveys were administered to students at one primary school in Kenya ( n = 38) and at one primary school in Uganda ( n = 57). Matching procedures were followed at each school. Paired ttests for pre/postsurveys demonstrated an increase in students’ knowledge ( p < .001) and frequency of handwashing ( p < .001). After 6 months, students were still engaging in daily group handwashing. The curriculum increased knowledge, and the handwashing station enabled students to translate their knowledge into action. This study supports educational interventions combined with built environmental interventions should be used to promote handwashing behaviors and emphasizes the role of group handwashing stations.


2011 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 121-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Lanter ◽  
Claire Waldron

Abstract The authors describe an innovative clinical education program that emphasizes the provision of written language services by preservice speech-language pathology graduate students at Radford University in Virginia. Clinicians combined academic coursework in language acquisition in school-age children and clinical experiences that target children's written language development to promote future literacy-based leadership roles and collaborative efforts among school-based speech-language pathologists (SLPs). These literacy-based experiences prepare SLPs to serve in the growing numbers of American public schools that are implementing Response to Intervention models.


Author(s):  
Brian R. Hirshman ◽  
Michael Martin ◽  
Michael W. Bigrigg ◽  
Kathleen M. Carley

Author(s):  
Audrey L. Michal ◽  
Yiwen Zhong ◽  
Priti Shah

AbstractToday’s citizens are expected to use evidence, frequently presented in the media, to inform decisions about health, behavior, and public policy. However, science misinformation is ubiquitous in the media, making it difficult to apply research appropriately. Across two experiments, we addressed how anecdotes and prior beliefs impact readers’ ability to both identify flawed science and make appropriate decisions based on flawed science in media articles. Each article described the results of flawed research on one of four educational interventions to improve learning (Experiment 1 included articles about having a tidy classroom and exercising while learning; Experiment 2 included articles about using virtual/augmented reality and napping at school). Experiment 1 tested the impact of a single anecdote and found no significant effect on either participants’ evidence evaluations or decisions to implement the learning interventions. However, participants were more likely to adopt the more plausible intervention (tidy classroom) despite identifying that it was unsupported by the evidence, suggesting effects of prior beliefs. In Experiment 2, we tested whether this intervention effect was driven by differences in beliefs about intervention plausibility and included two additional interventions (virtual reality = high plausible, napping = low plausible). We again found that participants were more likely to implement high plausible than low plausible interventions, and that evidence quality was underweighed as a factor in these decisions. Together, these studies suggest that evidence-based decisions are more strongly determined by prior beliefs than beliefs about the quality of evidence itself.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ganna Rozhnova ◽  
Christiaan H. van Dorp ◽  
Patricia Bruijning-Verhagen ◽  
Martin C. J. Bootsma ◽  
Janneke H. H. M. van de Wijgert ◽  
...  

AbstractThe role of school-based contacts in the epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 is incompletely understood. We use an age-structured transmission model fitted to age-specific seroprevalence and hospital admission data to assess the effects of school-based measures at different time points during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands. Our analyses suggest that the impact of measures reducing school-based contacts depends on the remaining opportunities to reduce non-school-based contacts. If opportunities to reduce the effective reproduction number (Re) with non-school-based measures are exhausted or undesired and Re is still close to 1, the additional benefit of school-based measures may be considerable, particularly among older school children. As two examples, we demonstrate that keeping schools closed after the summer holidays in 2020, in the absence of other measures, would not have prevented the second pandemic wave in autumn 2020 but closing schools in November 2020 could have reduced Re below 1, with unchanged non-school-based contacts.


2021 ◽  
Vol 108 (Supplement_2) ◽  
Author(s):  
A Elbayouk ◽  
U Halim ◽  
A Ali ◽  
S Javed ◽  
C Cullen

Abstract Background The aim of this systematic review was to outline the prevalence and impact of Gender bias and sexual discrimination (GBSD) in orthopaedics, and to investigate interventions countering such behaviours. Method Original research papers pertaining to the prevalence and impact of gender bias or sexual discrimination, or mitigating strategies in orthopaedics, were suitable for inclusion. PRISMA guidelines were adhered to in this review. Results Of 570 papers, 27 were eligible for inclusion. A total of 13 papers discussed the prevalence of GBSD, whilst 13 related to the impact of these behaviours, and 6 discussed mitigating strategies. GBSD were found to be prevalent in the orthopaedic workplace, with all sources showing females to be the victims. The impact of GBSD includes poor workforce representation, lower salaries, barriers to career progression, and reduced academic output for females in orthopaedics. Mitigating strategies in the literature are focussed on encouraging females to apply for orthopaedic training programmes, by providing female role models, mentors, and educational interventions. Conclusions GBSD are highly prevalent in orthopaedic surgery, impacting females at all stages of their careers. Mitigating strategies have been tested but are limited in their scope. As such, the orthopaedic community as a whole is obliged to do more to tackle GBSD.


2021 ◽  
pp. 097275312096875
Author(s):  
Haritha Koganti ◽  
Shasthara Paneyala ◽  
Harsha Sundaramurthy ◽  
Nemichandra SC ◽  
Rithvik S Kashyap ◽  
...  

Background: Idiopathic generalized epilepsy is defined as seizures with a possible hereditary predisposition without an underlying cause or structural pathology. Assessment of executive dysfunction in idiopathic generalized epilepsies based on standard Indian battery is not available in the literature. Aims and Objectives: To assess specific executive functions affected in patients with idiopathic epilepsy and their association with various variables. Materials and Methods: Type of observational cross-sectional study, where clinical profile of all idiopathic epilepsy patients attending the neurology OPD was studied and their executive higher mental functions were assessed using the NIMHANS battery. Results: A total of 75 idiopathic generalized epilepsy patients were included in the study. Executive functions that were commonly found abnormal in our study were word fluency ( P ≤ .001), category fluency ( P < .001), verbal n-back ( P < .001), Tower of London ( p < 0.01), and Stroop test ( P < 0.01). Executive functions showed a significant correlation with age at symptom onset, duration of epilepsy, and in those with uncontrolled seizures. Conclusion: Patients of idiopathic generalized epilepsy according to the present study were found to have significant executive dysfunction in multiple domains. This necessitates the screening for executive dysfunctions, which if detected should prompt the clinician to initiate cognitive retraining.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S81-S82
Author(s):  
Grace Mortrude ◽  
Mary Rehs ◽  
Katherine Sherman ◽  
Nathan Gundacker ◽  
Claire Dysart

Abstract Background Outpatient antimicrobial prescribing is an important target for antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) interventions to decrease antimicrobial resistance in the United States. The objective of this study was to design, implement and evaluate the impact of AMS interventions focused on asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB) and acute respiratory infections (ARIs) in the outpatient setting. Methods This randomized, stepped-wedge trial evaluated the impact of educational interventions to providers on adult patients presenting to primary care (PC) clinics for ARIs and ASB from 10/1/19 to 1/31/20. Data was collected by retrospective chart review. An antibiotic prescribing report card was provided to PC providers, then an educational session was delivered at each PC clinic. Patient education materials were distributed to PC clinics. Interventions were made in a step-wise (figure 1) fashion. The primary outcome was percentage of overall antibiotic prescriptions as a composite of prescriptions for ASB, acute bronchitis, upper-respiratory infection otherwise unspecified, uncomplicated sinusitis, and uncomplicated pharyngitis. Secondary outcomes included individual components of the primary outcome, a composite safety endpoint of related hospital, emergency department or primary care visit within 4 weeks, antibiotic appropriateness, and patient satisfaction surveys. Figure 1 Results There were 887 patients included for analysis (405 pre-intervention, 482 post-intervention). Baseline characteristics are summarized in table 1. After controlling for type 1 error using a Bonferroni correction the primary outcome was not significantly different between groups (56% vs 49%). There was a statistically significant decrease in prescriptions for bronchitis (20.99% vs 12.66%; p=0.0003). Appropriateness of prescriptions for sinusitis (OR 4.96; CI 1.79–13.75; p=0.0021) and pharyngitis (OR 5.36; CI 1.93 – 14.90; p=0.0013) was improved in the post-intervention group. The composite safety outcome and patient satisfaction survey ratings did not differ between groups. Table 1 Conclusion Multifaceted educational interventions targeting providers can improve antibiotic prescribing for indications rarely requiring antimicrobials without increasing re-visit or patient satisfaction surveys. Disclosures All Authors: No reported disclosures


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