Early development of infants with untreated metopic craniosynostosis.

Background: The purpose of this archival descriptive study was to examine the associations among craniosynostosis, perinatal risk factors or complications, and early cognitive development in infants diagnosed with craniosynostosis before they underwent surgery, to provide a greater empirical basis for surgical decision making and other early interventions. Specifically, it was hypothesized that there would be a greater number of infants with developmental delays than seen in the normative population. Furthermore, it was hypothesized that greater severity of synostosis would be correlated with lower cognitive and developmental scores.

Transforming psychological practice and society. Policies that reflect the new paradigm.

As people with disabilities challenge psychology to acknowledge the sociopolitical foundations of their marginalization, they urge psychologists to help improve disability policy within and beyond the borders of the discipline. Understanding disability through a social paradigm offers opportunities to reframe the way psychologists define problems related to disability, to develop more collaborative relationships between psychologists and people with disabilities, and to adopt new professional responsibilities with respect to the disability community. The authors address the impact of the social paradigm on policies within psychology that guide consulting, advocacy, and training.

Hierarchical linear modeling of FIM instrument growth curve characteristics after spinal cord injury.

Objective: To examine the recovery of aspects of functional independence as a continuous process using growth curve analysis.

Design: Retrospective database review of functional outcome assessment data from inception cohort.

Setting: Inpatient rehabilitation unit; community.

Employment after spinal cord injury: an analysis of cases from the Model Spinal Cord Injury Systems.

Objective: To describe the relationship of multiple biographic, injury-related, and educational factors with employment outcomes after spinal cord injury (SCI).

Design: Cross-sectional.

Setting: Data were collected through 18 model SCI systems, a nationwide network of hospitals that treat approximately 14% of all SCIs in the United States.

Empirically supported psychological and behavioral therapies in pediatric rehabilitation of TBI.

This article examines the empirical support for psychological therapies for children with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Empirical support for psychological treatments of noninjured children provides a foundation upon and a framework in which to discuss applications to children with neurobehavioral dysfunction. Behavioral interventions to address externalizing behaviors have received the greatest focus, whereas there is a paucity of work that pertains to internalizing features and prosocial behavior such as assertiveness.

Lower extremity lawn-mower injuries in children.

Lower extremity lawn-mower injuries in children result in significant morbidity with a significant financial burden to the family and society. We reviewed 24 children with lower extremity lawn-mower injuries; all mothers completed standardized psychologic assessments of their children, and 18 children were interviewed. Fifty percent of the mothers had defensive profiles on the standardized psychologic assessment, suggesting the likelihood of denial or underreporting of the child's psychologic difficulties.

Attentional performance of children with traumatic brain injury: a quantitative and qualitative analysis of digit span.

Previous studies have indicated that digit span performance is not particularly sensitive to the effects of traumatic brain injury (Baddeley & Warrington, 1970; Brooks, 1975; Sterne, 1969). However, clinical lore posits poorer backward vs. forward performance compared to normals due to the greater attentional demands of the backward task.

Cognitive impairment in musculoskeletal pain patients.

To assess the incidence and relationship of cognitive/intellectual impairments to pain problems, seventy-three adults with musculoskeletal pain seen in a PM&R outpatient clinic were screened using the Neurobehavioral Cognitive Status Examination (NCSE). Subjective pain complaints were assessed using portions of the McGill Pain Questionnaire. Patients with prior diagnoses of neurocognitive problems or those who had taken narcotic analgesics in the last 24 hours were excluded.

Altitudinal neglect following traumatic brain injury: a case report.

We present an analysis of altitudinal neglect in a patient who following traumatic brain injury showed extinction to a visual stimulus presented in the lower field when another stimulus was simultaneously presented in the upper field. When estimating the midpoint of vertically-oriented rods presented below eye level using visual cues, tactile/kinesthetic cues or a combination of these cues, she consistently pointed higher than control subjects did. She showed less severe impairments when the rods were presented at or above eye level.

A randomized controlled trial of hospital discharge three days after myocardial infarction in the era of reperfusion.

To evaluate the feasibility and cost savings of hospital discharge three days after acute myocardial infarction, we screened 507 consecutive patients prospectively for clinical complications and exercise-test performance. Of 179 patients whose condition was classified as uncomplicated (no angina, heart failure, or arrhythmia 72 hours after admission), 126 underwent early exercise testing and 90 had no provocable myocardial ischemia. Eighty of these patients were randomly assigned to early (day 3) or conventional (days 7 to 10) hospital discharge.

Assessment of distractibility in auditory comprehension after traumatic brain injury.

In a simulated functional task involving comprehension of a spoken passage, the performance of 20 traumatically brain-injured and 14 non-brain-injured control patients was compared under conditions which included the presence and absence of competing vocal stimuli. The subjects heard 10 target paragraphs which were approximately 1 minute in length. Five of these paragraphs were transmitted without any interference, while the other five were presented with distraction caused by a second voice reading a different paragraph with equal volume and intensity.

Behavioral rehabilitation of functional alexia.

A 10-year-old boy with a functional reading deficit (i.e. functional alexia) was successfully treated with hospital based escape/avoidance procedures.

Training of color and form identification in cortical blindness: a case study.

A procedure was developed for retraining color and form identification in a multiply handicapped cortically blind adolescent girl who had sustained anoxic brain damage. Treatment involved systematic presentation of four different colored shapes with verbal feedback on performance. The trainer used a multiple choice procedure and traced the edge of the stimulus with a pointer.

Behavior modification of abnormal gait and chronic pain secondary to somatization disorder.

An interdisciplinary team, which included a physiatrist, psychologist, physical therapist, occupational therapist, social worker, and nursing staff, undertook the treatment of a 33-year-old woman with a 16-year history of gait problems and multiple somatic complaints. Previously, she had been followed by a number of physicians and had undergone both invasive and noninvasive diagnostic procedures as well as several surgical procedures. After limited response to such treatment, she was referred to the outpatient PM&R clinic for evaluation.

An alternative perspective on biofeedback efficacy studies: a reply to Steiner and Dince.

Clinical applications of biofeedback have proliferated and considerable lore surrounding the application of these techniques has evolved. Many assertions about the effectiveness of biofeedback training are based on findings of the least well-controlled studies, while many of the better controlled studies have failed to show that biofeedback directly mediates target symptoms or is superior to other treatments. Steiner and Dince (1981) suggest that the failure of these controlled studies is primarily attributable to methodological deficiencies.

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory: two automated forms.

Two automated forms of the MMPI have been developed which are of particular utility in a rehabilitation setting with some individuals who have impairment of upper extremity functioning or mild visual problems. One form involving the sorting of IBM punch cards with printed questions into true and false piles, has been adapted and improved for scoring, profile generation and storage using a high speed campus computational facility. The 2nd form utilizes a small microcomputer for individual administration, scoring, profile generation and storage of information.

Driving and perceptual/cognitive skills: behavioral consequences of brain damage.

This study investigated the effects of brain damage on perceptual/cognitive skills and driving. The subjects included 23 persons with brain damage, 18 persons with spinal-cord damage, and 10 able-bodied persons. Each subject was evaluated using a battery of perceptual and cognitive tests, a set of driving tasks in a parking lot, and actual in-traffic driving over a fixed route.