RESUMO
AIMS: In children with articulatory defects it is important to evaluate the central auditory level. We compared the results of the interwave intervals of brainstem auditory evoked potentials (BAEP) at 80 dB SPL (sound pressure level) and the latencies of the waves of long latency auditory evoked potentials (LLAEP) (vertex) in 5-year-old children with articulatory defects for /l/, /r/, /rr/ and /s/, and in controls. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Fifty cases of 5-year-old children of both sexes were evaluated; 25 had articulatory defects and 25 with no articulatory defects were used as controls. Melgar's articulation test was applied to both groups. The following aspects were considered in the two groups: normal bilateral audition by means of tone audiometry, tympanometry and the revised Wechsler Intelligence Scale for preschool and primary school children, which were normal; there was no history of neurological damage. Interwave intervals for waves I-III, I-V and III-V of the BAEP and the latencies of the LLAEP (vertex) were evaluated. RESULTS: Data were analysed using SPSS 12, and descriptive statistics and Student's t test were carried out to appraise the differences between the two groups. No differences were found between the control group and the study group. CONCLUSIONS: It is important to determine whether children with articulatory defects have alterations in the auditory receptor or in their central auditory function. It can be concluded that the variables analysed in the two groups behave in the same way; no significant differences were found, which suggests that neither the auditory receptor nor the central auditory function are affected in the study group. Further studies are to be conducted to investigate the meaning of the difference in central nervous conduction between the two afferences in the study group.
Assuntos
Transtornos da Articulação/fisiopatologia , Potenciais Evocados Auditivos do Tronco Encefálico/fisiologia , Transtornos da Audição/fisiopatologia , Fonética , Percepção Auditiva/fisiologia , Pré-Escolar , Feminino , Humanos , Idioma , MasculinoRESUMO
INTRODUCTION: In this study, a new dichotic digit test in Spanish (NDDTS) was applied in order to identify auditory laterality. We also evaluated body laterality and spatial location using the Subirana test. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Both the dichotic test and the Subirana test for body laterality and spatial location were applied in a group of 40 children with dyslexia and in a control group made up of 40 children who were paired according to age and gender. The results of the three evaluations were analysed using the SPSS 10 software application, with Pearson's chi-squared test. RESULTS: It was seen that 42.5% of the children in the group of dyslexics had mixed auditory laterality, compared to 7.5% in the control group (p < or = 0.05). Body laterality was mixed in 25% of dyslexic children and in 2.5% in the control group (p < or = 0.05) and there was 72.5% spatial disorientation in the group of dyslexics, whereas only 15% (p < or = 0.05) was found in the control group. CONCLUSIONS: The NDDTS proved to be a useful tool for demonstrating that mixed auditory laterality and auditory predominance of the left ear are linked to dyslexia. The results of this test exceed those obtained for body laterality. Spatial orientation is indeed altered in children with dyslexia. The importance of this finding makes it necessary to study the central auditory processes in all cases in order to define better rehabilitation strategies in Spanish-speaking children.
Assuntos
Testes com Listas de Dissílabos , Dislexia/fisiopatologia , Lateralidade Funcional/fisiologia , Audição/fisiologia , Percepção Espacial/fisiologia , Adolescente , Adulto , Transtornos da Percepção Auditiva/diagnóstico , Transtornos da Percepção Auditiva/fisiopatologia , Transtornos da Percepção Auditiva/reabilitação , Criança , Pré-Escolar , Dominância Cerebral , Feminino , Humanos , MasculinoRESUMO
OBJECTIVE: To analyse perinatal adverse conditions related with birth weight in 160 children with hearing impairment-deafness (prelingual sensorineural hearing loss) according to medical data of a specialized medical unit in Mexico City. RESULTS: The average age of children was 4 years old +/- 1.7; 61% were male. 47.5% of the cases had a birthweight between 1,500 and 2,900 g. 90 cases (56%) had an abnormal delivery and 68 (42.5%) were first pregnancy cases. A high number of cases had delayed breathing, cyanosis, jaundice or respiratory failure. 104 cases (65%) had deafness and 56 (35%) presented. hearing loss. Only 11% of the children had a birth-weight under 1,500 g. 58% of all cases had a birth weight lower than 3,000 g. CONCLUSION: The quality of medical assistance provided during the perinatal period has a very important role in origin of hearing impairment--deafness in this group of children. It is important to increase our knowledge about the perinatal adverse conditions in order to establish preventive programs.
Assuntos
Surdez/etiologia , Perda Auditiva/etiologia , Complicações do Trabalho de Parto , Sistema de Registros , Área Programática de Saúde , Pré-Escolar , Surdez/epidemiologia , Feminino , Perda Auditiva/epidemiologia , Humanos , Recém-Nascido de Baixo Peso , Recém-Nascido , Masculino , Centros de Saúde Materno-Infantil/normas , México , Triagem Neonatal/métodos , Complicações do Trabalho de Parto/epidemiologia , GravidezRESUMO
BACKGROUND: Working memory allows the retention of a limited amount of information for a brief period of time and the manipulation of that information. This study was undertaken to compare possible differences in working memory between dyslexic and control children. METHODS: To test the executive central process that controls attention, subjects were requested to assemble a 100-piece puzzle. To test the phonological loop, subjects were requested to repeat orally a 10-item list with the following characteristics: digits spanning two numbers; phonologically similar words, and unfamiliar pseudowords. The visuo-spatial sketchpad was tested by means of assembling a 25-piece puzzle. RESULTS: Forty dyslexic and and forty control children were studied. Dyslexic children recall a lesser number of similar words in the phonological loop and spend a longer time in puzzle assembly in the visuo-spatial sketchpad. No statistical difference in the central executive process was found. CONCLUSIONS: Present results suggest the importance of visuo-spatial and phonological loop alterations in dyslexic children that may result in difficulties with similar words and spatial information.
Assuntos
Dislexia/psicologia , Memória de Curto Prazo , Criança , Feminino , Humanos , Masculino , Fala , Análise e Desempenho de Tarefas , Visão OcularRESUMO
We investigated the frequency of migraine in first-degree relatives of a group of migraine patients in two Mexican populations, one urban and one rural, and in control groups from the same populations. In the urban population, familial aggregation of migraine was found in 52.7% of patients and in the rural in 38.7%. The differences between controls and subjects were statistically significant in both populations. Our findings support the importance of a hereditary factor in migraine but not an autosomal dominant inheritance pattern.
Assuntos
Transtornos de Enxaqueca/genética , Adolescente , Adulto , Idoso , Criança , Feminino , Humanos , Masculino , México/epidemiologia , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Transtornos de Enxaqueca/epidemiologia , Inquéritos e QuestionáriosRESUMO
Prevalence of headache was studied by house-to-house survey of a small remote Mexican village where the population was characterized by a low income and high rate of illiteracy. Severe headache was found in 8.9% of the male population and in 10.6% of the females. Approximately half of these individuals gave a history suggestive of headache with aura, but reinterview by a neurologist revealed that in one third of such histories the visual phenomena were probably not true aurae. Only in the over 35-year age-group was headache more prevalent in females. 'Incapacitating' headache was usually equated with 'severe' headache and was 10 times as frequent in the over 55-year age-group as in younger people. Sophisticated interviewers (neurologists) obtained different results from less trained interviewers.