Influence of Respiratory Tract Infections on Vocabulary Growth in Relation to Child's Sex: The STEPS Study.

Common health issues have been less examined in studies of early language development, particularly in relation to the child's sex. Respiratory tract infections, often complicated by acute otitis media, are common in children during the first years of life, when early vocabulary development takes place. The present study, conducted in Finland, aimed to investigate whether possible associations between recurrent respiratory tract infections, background factors, and vocabulary growth differ in boys and girls aged 13 to 24 months.

Continuous positive airway pressure treatment may negatively affect auditory maturation in preterm infants.

Aim: Nasal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) devices generate loud noise, which might harm auditory function and maturation. The function of auditory pathways can be examined by using brainstem auditory evoked potential (BAEP) and brainstem audiometry (BA) recordings. Our objective was to study whether CPAP treatment during the neonatal period is associated with abnormalities in BAEP and BA recordings.

Communication skills predict social-emotional competencies.

Introduction: Studies have shown that many children with early language difficulties also have delays in social-emotional competencies as well as social-emotional and behavioral problems. It is unclear if these conditions are causally related, if they share a common underlying etiology, or if there are bidirectional effects. Studies investigating these associations have mostly involved children who are already using words to communicate, but it is important to know whether delays in preverbal communication and language development have any effects on these associations.

Neonatal antibiotic exposure impairs child growth during the first six years of life by perturbing intestinal microbial colonization.

Exposure to antibiotics in the first days of life is thought to affect various physiological aspects of neonatal development. Here, we investigate the long-term impact of antibiotic treatment in the neonatal period and early childhood on child growth in an unselected birth cohort of 12,422 children born at full term. We find significant attenuation of weight and height gain during the first 6 years of life after neonatal antibiotic exposure in boys, but not in girls, after adjusting for potential confounders.

Heritability of Bullying and Victimization in Children and Adolescents: Moderation by the KiVa Antibullying Program.

Objective: Bullying affects approximately a quarter of schoolchildren and is associated with numerous adverse outcomes. Although distinct risk factors for bullying and victimization have been identified, few studies have investigated the genetic and environmental underpinnings of bullying and victimization. The aims of this study were twofold: first, to examine the contributions of genetic and environmental factors to bullying and victimization, and second, to analyze whether the KiVa antibullying program moderated the magnitude of these contributions by comparing estimates derived from the KiVa versus control groups.

Associations between human milk oligosaccharides and growth in infancy and early childhood.

Background: Breastfeeding modulates infant growth and protects against the development of obesity. However, whether or not maternal variation in human milk components, such as human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs), is associated with programming of child growth remains unknown.

Objective: Our objective was to determine the association between maternal HMO composition and child growth during the first 5 y of life.

Neonatal brainstem auditory function associates with early receptive language development in preterm children.

Aim: To study whether auditory function measured with brainstem auditory evoked potential and brainstem audiometry recordings in the neonatal period associates with language development 1 year later in preterm infants.

Methods: This retrospective study included 155 preterm infants (birthweight ≤1500 g and/or birth ≤32 gestational weeks) born between 2007 and 2012 at the Turku University Hospital. Auditory function was recorded in neonatal period.

Comparing functioning in spinal cord injury and in chronic spinal pain with two ICF-based instruments: WHODAS 2.0 and the WHO minimal generic data set covering functioning and health.

Objective: To investigate whether the two briefest validated ICF-based (International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health) tools can detect differences between different spinal conditions.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: University hospital rehabilitation clinic.

Utility of the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule and the World Health Organization minimal generic set of domains of functioning and health in spinal cord injury.

Objective: To compare easy-to-use International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF)-based measures of functioning with the level and severity of spinal cord injury.

Methods: Cross-sectional study. Patients (n = 142) and their significant others completed the 12-item World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS 2.

Appendiceal neoplasm risk associated with complicated acute appendicitis-a population based study.

Purpose: Appendiceal tumors are rare, but high neoplasm rates have been reported at interval appendectomy after periappendicular abscess. Non-operative management of uncomplicated acute appendicitis has shown promising results. The data on appendiceal tumor incidence and presentation among acute appendicitis patients is limited, especially in patient cohorts differentiating between uncomplicated and complicated acute appendicitis.

Recurrent respiratory tract infections or acute otitis media were not a risk factor for vocabulary development in children at 13 and 24 months of age.

Aim: This study examined associations between recurrent respiratory tract infections (RTI) and acute otitis media (AOM) during the first one and two years of life and vocabulary size at 13 and 24 months of age.

Methods: We studied 646 children born between January 2008 and April 2010 and followed up from birth to two years of age with daily diary and study clinic visits during RTIs and AOM. The families were recruited from maternity health care clinics or delivery wards in south-west Finland.

Disability in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis compared with traumatic brain injury using the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 and the International Classification of Functioning minimal generic set.

We compared the functioning of two neurological patient groups, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and traumatic brain injury (TBI), using brief and validated International Classification of Functioning (ICF)-based tools. A 12-item World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS 2.0) questionnaire was mailed to ALS and TBI patients and their significant others 2 weeks before their appointment at an outpatient clinic of a university hospital.

Comparing disability between traumatic brain injury and spinal cord injury using the 12-item WHODAS 2.0 and the WHO minimal generic data set covering functioning and health.

Objective:: To compare disability between two patient groups using short validated tools based on International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF).

Design:: Cross-sectional study.

Setting:: University hospital specialist outpatient clinic.

Usability of World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule in chronic traumatic brain injury.

Objectives: To investigate functioning measured with the 12-item World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS 2.0) in patients with mild, moderate and severe traumatic brain injury, and to compare patients' experiences with assessments made by their significant others and by consultant neurologists.

Methods: A total of 112 consecutive patients with traumatic brain injury (29 mild, 43 moderate, 40 severe) and their significant others completed a 12-item WHODAS 2.

National time trend changes in psychotropic medication of child and adolescent psychiatric inpatients across Finland.

Background: There have been no comprehensive studies on trends in psychotropic medication use in child and adolescent inpatient settings. The aim of this nationwide study was to report changes in the psychotropic medication given to child and adolescent psychiatric inpatients across Finland and the factors associated with those changes.

Methods: We asked the psychiatrist responsible for each inpatient to complete a questionnaire that included questions about the pharmacological treatment and background information.

Association of allergic diseases with children's life satisfaction: population-based study in Finland.

Objective: To assess the impact of allergic diseases on the subjective well-being and life satisfaction of primary-school children.

Design: Population-based cohort.

Setting: Finnish sample of children ages 10 and 12 from the International Survey of Children's Well-Being.

Respiratory Tract Infections and Voice Quality in 4-Year-old Children in the STEPS Study.

Objectives: Health-related factors are part of the multifactorial background of dysphonia in children. Respiratory tract infections affect the same systems and structures that are used for voice production. The purpose of this study was to investigate if the number of respiratory tract infections or the viral etiology were significant predictors for a more hoarse voice quality.

Daycare attendance and respiratory tract infections: a prospective birth cohort study.

Objective: We explored the burden of respiratory tract infections (RTIs) in young children with regard to day-care initiation.

Design: Longitudinal prospective birth cohort study.

Setting And Methods: We recruited 1827 children for follow-up until the age of 24 months collecting diary data on RTIs and daycare.

A Comparison of Medical Birth Register Outcomes between Maternity Health Clinics and Integrated Maternity and Child Health Clinics in Southwest Finland.

Introduction: Primary maternity care services are globally provided according to various organisational models. Two models are common in Finland: a maternity health clinic and an integrated maternity and child health clinic. The aim of this study was to clarify whether there is a relation between the organisational model of the maternity health clinics and the utilisation of maternity care services, and certain maternal and perinatal health outcomes.

Changes in the clinical features of child and adolescent psychiatric inpatients: a nationwide time-trend study from Finland.

Background: Few studies have focused on the recent trends in clinical features child and adolescent inpatient.

Aims: This study focuses on the change in the characteristics of child and adolescent psychiatric inpatients in Finland.

Methods: The data collection was carried out on selected study days in 2000 and 2011.

Identification of biological and environmental risk factors for language delay: The Let's Talk STEPS study.

The aim of this population-based study was to identify demographic factors for language delays at an early age. The risk analysis covered 11 biological and 8 environmental factors. The mothers' concerns regarding language development were also examined.

Food neophobia associates with lower dietary quality and higher BMI in Finnish adults.

Objective: Food neophobia has been associated with decreased consumption of vegetables mainly among children. We hypothesized that food neophobia in adults is also associated with lower overall dietary quality and higher BMI.

Design: Data for the present cross-sectional analyses were derived from parents in a follow-up family study.