Publications by authors named "Aoife O'Shea"
Article Synopsis
- - The study investigates the link between low vitamin D levels and higher mortality rates in unvaccinated patients with COVID-19, considering common risk factors like age and obesity.
- - Researchers analyzed 232 patients, finding that age (especially over 70) and lower vitamin D levels significantly increased mortality risk, independent of other factors like gender and diabetes.
- - Results indicate that low vitamin D is associated with higher COVID-19 mortality, but not due to systemic inflammation as measured by CRP, suggesting the need for further research into vitamin D's role in COVID-19 outcomes.
This study presents a cost-effectiveness analysis of a targeted selective pre-school intervention programme, "Happy Talk", which focuses on language development, by simultaneously enhancing parental interaction and the pre-school environment. Happy Talk (delivered to 77 children) is an add on intervention, and is compared to usual care, adopting a healthcare perspective. Cost-effectiveness analyses were carried out using the Pre-school Language Scale 5- Total (PLS-5) for baseline analysis and the Child Health Utility Instrument (CHU9D) in a secondary analysis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Despite the public health implications of language difficulties associated with social disadvantage, there is a dearth of effectiveness studies investigating the effects of targeted speech and language programmes in this area.
Aims: To determine the effects of a targeted selective community-based child language intervention programme (Happy Talk), which simultaneously engaged with parents and early childhood educators, in the Republic of Ireland.
Methods & Procedures: A mixed methods methodology was applied with quantitative outcome and qualitative process data collected.
Expressive and receptive language skills in preschool children from a socially disadvantaged area.
Int J Speech Lang Pathol
February 2016
Purpose: Evidence suggests that children present with receptive language skills that are equivalent to or more advanced than expressive language skills. This profile holds true for typical and delayed language development. This study aimed to determine if such a profile existed for preschool children from an area of social deprivation and to investigate if particular language skills influence any differences found between expressive and receptive skills.
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