Lehman Small (juryfrost3)
Children with dyslexia are at elevated risk of internalizing (emotional) and externalizing (behavioural) problems. Clever Kids is a nine-week socioemotional well-being programme developed specifically for upper primary school children with dyslexia. In a small randomized-controlled trial, we tested the feasibility, efficacy, and acceptability of the Clever Kids programme. 'Forty children (Mage = 10.45 years, 65% male) with clinically diagnosed dyslexia too part in the study. Children were randomized to either attend Clever Kids (n = 20) or to a wait-list control condition (n = 20). Coping skills, self-esteem, resilience, emotion regulation, and internalizing and externalizing symptoms were measured at pre-programme, post-programme, and at three-month follow-up. Recruitment and retention rates indicate high feasibility for further evaluation of the programme. There was a significant interaction between intervention condition and time for non-productive coping [F(2, 76) = 4.29, p = 0.017, f2 = 0.11]. Children who attended Clever Kids significantly reduced their use of non-productive coping strategies, and this was maintained at three-month follow-up assessment. For all other outcomes, the interactions between intervention condition and time were non-significant. The programme appears acceptable to children with dyslexia and their families, but may be improved by further reducing the number of activities involving reading and writing. Clever Kids improved the coping skills of children with dyslexia; however, a larger trial is needed to replicate this finding and investigate whether programme attendance is associated with additional improvements in children's socioemotional well-being. The National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) has not been validated to diagnose aphasia in the stroke population. We therefore examined the diagnostic accuracy of NIHSS for detecting aphasia in acute ischemic stroke. Consecutive patients with acute first-ever ischemic stroke were included prospectively in Lund Stroke Register Study at Skåne University Hospital, Sweden. Exclusion criteria were (a) non-native Swedish; (b) obtundation (c) dementia or psychiatric diagnosis. Patients were assessed with NIHSS item 9 (range 0-3, where 1-3 indicate aphasia) by a NIHSS certified research nurse in the acute phase after stroke onset (median 3days). Within 24h after this assessment, a speech therapist evaluated the patients' language function with the comprehensive language screening test (LAST, range 0-15 where 0-14 indicates aphasia). Data were analyzed using LAST as 'reference standard'. We examined 221 patients. Among these, 23% (n=50) had aphasia according to NIHSS (distribution of scores 0, 1, 2, 3 were n=171, n=29, n=12, n=9) compared to 26% (n=58) with aphasia according to LAST (score ≤14; median=11). Assuming LAST as reference standard, NIHSS gave 16 false negatives (NIHSS item 9=0) for aphasia (LAST scores range 8-14), and 8 false positives (NIHSS item 9 score=1) for aphasia, yielding a sensitivity of 72% (0.59-0.83) and a specificity of 95% (0.91-0.98). When using NIHSS for screening and diagnosing aphasia in adults with acute ischemic stroke, patients with severe aphasia can be detected, however, some mild aphasias might be misclassified. Given the 72% sensitivity, absence of aphasia on the NIHSS should not be used to guide stroke treatment. When using NIHSS for screening and diagnosing aphasia in adults with acute ischemic stroke, patients with severe aphasia can be detected, however, some mild aphasias might be misclassified. Given the 72% sensitivity, absence of aphasia on the NIHSS should not be used to guide stroke treatment.Body mass is one of the most important phenotypic attributes in animal ecology and life history. This trait is widely used in the fields of ecology and macroevolution, since it influences physiology, morphological functions, and a myriad of ecological and social int