scholarly journals Impact of a caries preventive intervention in remote Indigenous Australian children

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ratilal Lalloo ◽  
TADAKAMADLA SANTOSH KUMAR ◽  
Jeroen Kroon ◽  
Lisa M Jamieson ◽  
Newell Johnson

IMPORTANCE: The burden of dental caries in remote Indigenous communities in Australia is unacceptably high. OBJECTIVES: We tested the impact of an annual caries preventive intervention, delivered by a fly-in/fly-out professional team, on Indigenous children residing in a remote Australian community, involving selective fissure sealants, topical povidone iodine and fluoride varnish application. The outcome was caries increment at 12- and 24-month follow-up. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS: Around 600 Indigenous children aged 5 to 17 years were invited to participate at baseline, of which 408 had caregiver consent provided. Of these, 196 consented to both the study and the treatment arm and comprised the experimental group. Two hundred and twelve consented to the epidemiological examination only, and constituted the comparison group. INTERVENTION: The Big Bang intervention, which occurred annually, comprised placement of fissure sealants, and application of povidone-iodine and fluoride varnish, following completion of each childs dental treatment plan. Standard diet and oral hygiene advice was provided. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Caries increment (number of tooth surfaces with new dental caries) in both primary and permanent dentitions at 12- and 24-month follow-up. RESULTS: At 12-month follow-up, children in the experimental group had, on average, 5.05 (5.47) new carious lesions compared to 7.49 (6.94) in the comparison group (p=0.001). The preventive fraction was 33%. At 24-month follow-up, children in the experimental group had, on average, 6.47 (6.07) new carious lesions compared to 8.43 (5.83) in the comparison group (p=0.002). The preventive fraction was 23%. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Indigenous children exposed to the Big Bang caries intervention had significantly less increment in dental disease than those not exposed to the intervention. Benefits were demonstrated at both 12- and 24-month follow-ups, suggesting that the intervention is likely to be sustained if delivered across a childs life. The cost-effectiveness of this approach is being evaluated.

2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 258-263
Author(s):  
Minjin Kim ◽  
Haeok Lee ◽  
Peter Kiang ◽  
Teri Aronowitz ◽  
Lisa Kennedy Sheldon ◽  
...  

Korean American women have substantially greater incidence rates of cervical cancer and the lowest rates of cervical cancer screening in the United States. However, there has been minimal research to promote human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination among this population. A pilot randomized controlled trial was conducted to evaluate preliminary effectiveness of a storytelling video intervention using mobile, Web-based technology. One hundred and four Korean American college women were randomized to the experimental group (storytelling video) or the comparison group (information-based written material). The effects of the intervention were assessed immediately postintervention and at the 2-month follow-up. Both groups improved in knowledge of and attitude toward the HPV vaccine at the postintervention. At the 2-month follow-up, the experimental group was twice as likely to receive the HPV vaccine compared to the comparison group. This preliminary evidence supports the use of a storytelling video intervention and shows substantial promise for further development and testing in larger scale studies.


2022 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 127-131
Author(s):  
Javaid Ahmad Mir ◽  
Nadiya Rashid

A newborn baby has only three demands. They are warmth in the arms of his mother, food from her breasts and security in the knowledge of her presence. Breastfeeding satisfies all three. While breastfeeding may not seem the right choice for every parent, it is the choice for every baby because it fulfills the physical needs as well as psychotic complementary of the child. The study aimedto find out the association of nipple soreness in experimental group and comparison group in terms of sample characteristics of postnatal mothers. A quasi experimental study was conducted on 70 postnatal mothers, (35 in experimental group and 35 in the comparison group) who breast feeds their babies were selected conveniently. Feeding pattern was assessed by LATCH scale four times in a day followed by the application of hind milk minimum four times in a day for three or four days as per discharge day of mother. The mother was asked to rub hind milk on nipples after feeding the baby and letting it air dry in front of researcher and nipple soreness scale was used to check the sore nipple at third and fifth day or at the day of discharge. Follow up of postnatal mothers was done telephonically by using interview questionnaire on day 15 in both groups. Study findings revealed that on 3rd day, the mean nipple soreness score was higher in comparison group (1.45) than experimental group (0.10) and thus there was significant difference (t value = 3.87) in nipple soreness score.Study concluded that breast milk application was effective in preventing sore nipples among postnatal mothers. Hence, it can be recommended to use breast milk for the prevention of sore nipple.


2020 ◽  
pp. 1357633X2093243
Author(s):  
Cabbee TL Li ◽  
Goris KN Hung ◽  
Kenneth NK Fong ◽  
Pablo Cruz Gonzalez ◽  
Shu-hong Wah ◽  
...  

Introduction This study aimed to investigate the effects of a home-based occupational therapy telerehabilitation (TR) via smartphone in enhancing functional and motor performance and fall efficacy for outpatients receiving day hospital rehabilitation after hip fracture surgery in Hong Kong. Methods This was a feasibility randomised controlled trial with two groups – an experimental group and a comparison group – and a sample of 31 older adults attending a geriatric day hospital who had undergone hip fracture surgery within 12 weeks of diagnosis. Patients were assessed at baseline, immediately after a three-week intervention and at three-week post-intervention follow-up for motor performance, activities of daily living (ADL) functioning and fall efficacy. The experimental group received a home programme using the Caspar Health e-system and a mobile app for smartphones, while the comparison group received paper-and-pencil instructions for the home programme on a weekly basis for three weeks. Results Compared to the comparison group, significant improvements in fall efficacy and instrumental ADL performance at post intervention and follow-up were found in the experimental group. However, in the comparison group, inadequate social support was a factor contributing to better muscle strength testing in both the affected and non-affected legs. There were no significant differences between the two groups in regard to the other variables. Discussion This study supports the potential use of TR via smartphone as an alternative home programme for use in occupational therapy practice with older adults after hip fracture surgery.


2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (S352) ◽  
pp. 21-25
Author(s):  
Jorryt Matthee ◽  
David Sobral

AbstractDistant luminous Lyman-α emitters are excellent targets for detailed observations of galaxies in the epoch of reionisation. Spatially resolved observations of these galaxies allow us to simultaneously probe the emission from young stars, partially ionised gas in the interstellar medium and to constrain the properties of the surrounding hydrogen in the circumgalactic medium. We review recent results from (spectroscopic) follow-up studies of the rest-frame UV, Lyman-α and [CII] emission in luminous galaxies observed ∼500 Myr after the Big Bang with ALMA, HST/WFC3 and VLT/X-SHOOTER. These galaxies likely reside in early ionised bubbles and are complex systems, consisting of multiple well separated and resolved components where traces of metals are already present.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. e0244927
Author(s):  
Ratilal Lalloo ◽  
Santosh K. Tadakamadla ◽  
Jeroen Kroon ◽  
Lisa M. Jamieson ◽  
Robert S. Ware ◽  
...  

We tested the effect of an annual caries preventive intervention, delivered by a fly-in/fly-out oral health professional team, with Indigenous children residing in a remote Australian community. Around 600 Indigenous children aged 5 to 17 years were invited to participate at baseline, of who 408 had caregiver consent. One hundred and ninety-six consented to the epidemiological examination and intervention (Intervention group) and 212 consented to the epidemiological examination only (Comparison group). The intervention, which occurred annually, comprised placement of fissure sealants on suitable teeth, and application of povidone-iodine and fluoride varnish to the whole dentition, following completion of any necessary restorative dental treatment. Standard diet and oral hygiene advice were provided. Caries increment (number of tooth surfaces with new dental caries) in both deciduous and permanent dentitions was measured at the 2-year follow-up. Comparison group children had significantly higher number of new surfaces with advanced caries in the permanent dentition than the Intervention group (IRR = 1.61; 95% CI: 1.02–2.54; p = 0.04); with a preventive fraction of 43%. The effect of intervention remained significant with children in the Comparison group developing significantly more advanced caries lesions in the permanent dentition than the Intervention group children in the adjusted multivariable analysis (IRR = 2.21; 95% CI: 1.03–4.71). Indigenous children exposed to the intervention had less increment in advanced dental caries in the permanent dentition than those not exposed to the intervention.


2020 ◽  
Vol 493 (4) ◽  
pp. 4677-4691 ◽  
Author(s):  
E Caffau ◽  
P Bonifacio ◽  
L Sbordone ◽  
A M Matas Pinto ◽  
P François ◽  
...  

Abstract Extremely metal-poor (EMP) stars are old objects that mostly formed very early after the big bang. They are rare and, to select them, we have to rely on low-resolution spectroscopic or photometric surveys; specifically the combination of narrow- and broad-band photometry provides a powerful and time efficient way to select MP stars. The Pristine photometric survey is using the Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope MegaCam wide-field imager to obtain narrow-band photometry by utilizing a filter centred at 395.2 nm on the Ca ii-H and -K lines. Gaia DR 2 is providing us the wide-band photometry as well as parallaxes. Follow-up observations of MP candidates allowed us to improve our photometric calibrations. In this paper of the series we analyse MP stars observed with FORS2 at VLT. We demonstrate the Pristine calibration adopted in this work to be able to provide metallicities accurate to ±0.3 dex for MP giant stars with good parallaxes, while it performs poorly for dwarf and turn-off stars, whatever the accuracy on the parallaxes. We find some MP and very MP stars that are not enhanced in α elements. Such stars have already been found in several other searches, and a higher resolution follow-up of our sample would be useful to put our findings on a firmer ground. This sample of stars analysed has a low fraction of carbon-enhanced MP stars, regardless of the definition adopted. This deficiency could indicate a small sensitivity of the Pristine filter to carbon abundance, issue to be addressed in the future.


2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 298-320
Author(s):  
Semra Tuncay ◽  
Sena Kaplan ◽  
Ozlem Moraloglu Tekin

This study was conducted to assess the effect on labor process and parenting behavior of hydrotherapy applied during the active phase of labor. This quasi-experimental study was conducted by using an equivalent comparison group ( n = 40). The participants in the experimental group whose cervical dilation was 5 cm were taken to the hydrotherapy tub. This application continued until cervical dilation reached 10 cm. The Participants Questionnaire, The Birth Follow-up Questionnaire, The Postpartum ]collection tools. The duration of the active phase and second stage of labor was extremely short in the experimental group in comparison with the equivalent comparison group ( p = .001). The Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) scores of the experimental group were lower than those of the equivalent comparison group when cervical dilation was 6 cm and 10 cm ( p = .001). The experimental group also displayed more positive parenting behavior and positive labor feeling ( p = .001).


2011 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 184-195 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jackie S. Iseman ◽  
Jack A. Naglieri

The authors examined the effectiveness of cognitive strategy instruction based on PASS (Planning, Attention, Simultaneous, Successive) given by special education teachers to students with ADHD randomly assigned by classroom. Students in the experimental group were exposed to a brief cognitive strategy instruction for 10 days, which was designed to encourage development and application of effective planning for mathematical computation, whereas the comparison group received-standard math instruction. Standardized tests of cognitive processes and math achievement were given at pretest. All students completed math worksheets throughout the experimental phase. Standardized achievement tests ( Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Achievement, Third Edition, Math Fluency and Wechsler Individualized Achievement Test, Second Edition, Numerical Operations) were administered pre- and postintervention, and Math Fluency was also administered at 1 year follow-up. Large pre—post effect sizes were found for students in the experimental group but not the comparison group on math worksheets (0.85 and 0.26), Math Fluency (1.17 and 0.09), and Numerical Operations (0.40 and —0.14, respectively). At 1 year follow-up, the experimental group continued to outperform the comparison group. These findings suggest that students with ADHD evidenced greater improvement in math worksheets, far transfer to standardized tests of math (which measured the skill of generalizing learned strategies to other similar tasks), and continued advantage 1 year later when provided the PASS-based cognitive strategy instruction.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Surani Fernando ◽  
Santosh Tadakamadla ◽  
Jeroen Kroon ◽  
Ratilal Lalloo ◽  
Newell W. Johnson

Abstract Background The burden of childhood dental caries amongst Indigenous Australians is higher than in other Australians. Because of differences in lifestyle and the evolutionary history of the oral microbiota, associated risk indicators may differ. Here, we evaluate associations between caries increment, salivary biomarkers and baseline caries among children aged 5–17 years residing in a remote rural Indigenous community. Methods This study was part of a trial assessing cost-effectiveness of an intervention to prevent dental caries among children. Baseline epidemiology and application of topical caries-preventive measures was conducted in 2015, followed-up in 2016 and 2017. Children who did not consent or failed to attend the prevention visits but did attend for follow-up epidemiology constituted a natural comparison group for evaluating the intervention. Saliva flow, pH, buffering and bacterial loads were measured at all visits. Caries was scored by the International Caries Detection and Assessment system. Outcome was caries increment. Explanatory variables were sex, being in experimental or comparison group, baseline caries, saliva flowrate and buffering, pH, and salivary loads of mutans streptococci (MS), Lactobacilli (LB), and yeast. Chi Square tests compared caries incidence in relation to explanatory variables and Generalised Linear Models explored associations between explanatory and outcome variables. Results Of 408 participants at baseline, only 208 presented at 2-year follow-up. Of caries-free children at baseline, significantly fewer had incipient (p = 0.01) and advanced (p = 0.04) caries after two years. Children in the experimental group experienced fewer tooth surfaces with advanced caries (p = 0.02) than comparison children. Having caries at baseline (p = 0.02) and low salivary flow-rates (p < 0.001) saw a significant increase in advanced caries after two years. Children with high salivary loads of MS (p = 0.03) and LB (p = 0.004) experienced more advanced carious surfaces. Multivariable analysis revealed 58% reduction (p = 0.001) in advanced caries among children with high salivary flow rates. Caries increment was 61% (p = 0.03) more for incipient and 121% (p = 0.007) more for advanced caries among children who harboured higher loads of MS. Conclusion As with other ethnicities, children with low salivary flow and those with high MS had higher incipient and advanced caries increments after two years. Such risk assessments facilitate targeted preventive interventions for such communities. Trial registration: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR), No: ACTRN12615000693527: 3 July 2015.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document