Effect of School Closure on the Incidence of Influenza among School-Age Children in Arizona

SUMMARYSchool closure is one of the most common interventions in the early weeks of an influenza pandemic. Few studies have investigated social contact patterns and compared individual student contact characteristics during the school term and holiday periods in Taiwan. Here, we conducted a well-used questionnaire survey in a junior high school (grades 7–8) in June 2013. All 150 diary-based effective questionnaires covering conversation and skin-to-skin contact behaviour were surveyed. Two questionnaires for each participant were designed to investigate the individual-level difference of contact numbers per day during the two periods. The questionnaire response rate was 44%. The average number of contacts during term time (20·0 contacts per day) and holiday periods (12·6 contacts per day) were significantly different (P < 0·05). The dominant contact frequencies and duration were everyday contact (89·10%) and contacts lasting less than 5 minutes (37·09%). The greatest differences occurred within the 13–19 years age groups. The result presented in this study provide an indication of the likely reduction in daily contact frequency that might occur if a school closure policy was adopted in the event of an influenza pandemic in Taiwan. Comparing contact patterns during term time and holiday periods, the number of contacts decreased by 40%. This study is the first research to investigate the contact numbers and contact characteristics for school-age children during the school term and a holiday period in Taiwan. With regard to public health, this study could provide the basic contact information and database for modelling influenza epidemics for minimizing the spread of influenza that depends on personal contacts for transmission.

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The Myopia Progression in School-Age Children after Home Quarantine Due to COVID-19

Ophthalmology in Russia ◽

10.18008/1816-5095-2021-4-922-925 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (4) ◽

pp. 922-925

Author(s):

E. Yu. Markova ◽

R. S. Isabekov ◽

L. V. Venediktova

Keyword(s):

School Curriculum ◽

School Closure ◽

World Health ◽

School Age Children ◽

World Population ◽

School Age ◽

Russian Government ◽

Myopia Progression ◽

Number Of Children ◽

The World

Myopia is an actual health issue in the world. The World Health Organization estimates that 50 % of the world population may be myopic by 2050. In response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak, the Russian government started a nationwide school closure as an emergency measure to prevent spreading of the infection since the 23rd of March 2020. The present study was organized to investigate prevalence of myopia in school-aged children during the COVID-19 home confinement in Moscow. The studied group included school-age children: pupils of 1, 5, 11th classes. The inclusion criteria were: myopia — refraction above –0.5 D in conditions of cycloplegia. The results of survey 523 pupils from Moscow schools, the proportion of patients with myopia was 20.1 %, while the proportion of patients with myopia among 1st class pupils was only 8.3 %. In 5th class, the rate was 16 %, in the 11th grade reached 42.1 %, i.e. increased more than 5 times. The trend with an increase in the number of children with myopia in the learning process is explained by the increased visual load of the high school curriculum. Home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic appeared to be associated with a significant myopic shift for children aged 6 to 8 years due to the visual load increase in and a decrease in time spent outdoors. Further research is needed to evaluate these results and long-term follow-up of these children.

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Action and Reaction of Pre-Primary and Primary School-Age Children to Restrictions during COVID-19 Pandemic in Greece

Journal of Personalized Medicine ◽

10.3390/jpm11060451 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (6) ◽

pp. 451

Author(s):

Dimitra I. Siachpazidou ◽

Ourania S. Kotsiou ◽

Grigorios Chatziparasidis ◽

Dimitrios Papagiannis ◽

George D. Vavougios ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Primary School ◽

Online Survey ◽

School Closure ◽

Psychological Status ◽

Mitigation Measures ◽

School Age Children ◽

School Age ◽

Protection Measures ◽

Primary School Age ◽

The Impact

The fast-spreading coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic forced countries to apply restrictive measures to counteract it. School closure was quickly adopted by health authorities. We aimed to investigate the compliance of children aged 4 to 12 years with the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions and evaluate the impact of school closure on the children’s educational, social, economic, and psychological outcomes. An online survey was distributed through a social networking platform to parents of pre-primary and primary school-age children. The study period was defined as from 27 November 2020 to 3 December 2020, two weeks after the school closure due to the general lockdown in Greece. This study showed that the school units were well-informed and complied with the protection measures against COVID-19. The pupils quickly adopted the protection measures, even those whose parents suggested masks were less effective. The quarantine-forced school closure highly impacted primary school children’s physical activity, quality of sleep, psychological status, eating habits, academic performance, and household income. Web use showed an increase, with the children over-spending extracurricular time in web activities. Our study highlights the need for long term monitoring of these aforementioned indices, and the development of COVID-19 mitigation measures that carefully incorporate effectiveness and societal impact.

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An Online Cross-Sectional Survey on Oral Healthcare Among School-Age Children During COVID-19 Epidemic in Wuhan, China

Frontiers in Medicine ◽

10.3389/fmed.2021.572217 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 ◽

Author(s):

Zhen Li ◽

Yuhong Li ◽

Chang Liu ◽

Han Jiang ◽

Chenzheng Zhang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Health Status ◽

Oral Health ◽

Parental Attitudes ◽

Oral Health Status ◽

School Closure ◽

School Age Children ◽

School Age ◽

Cross Sectional Survey ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Dental Attendance

Background: Since the outbreak of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the government of China adopted many measures which changed people's lifestyle including oral health-related lifestyle to control the transmission. The aim of this study was to investigate oral health status, oral healthcare behaviors, and parental attitudes toward oral healthcare among school-age children in Wuhan during the COVID-19 outbreak and what the status would be when the outbreak is under control.Methods: This study was an online cross-sectional survey facing elementary school students in Wuhan. The questionnaire was completed by children's parents or other family members. The information on demographic data, oral health status, oral healthcare behaviors, and parental attitudes toward oral healthcare was collected at the end of school closure. The chi-square test was used to test the association of different questionnaire items.Results: A total of 18,383 subjects aged 6–13 years with complete data were included in this investigation, and 44.2% of them suffered pain or discomfort related to teeth and gums during the epidemic. While there might be an increasing need and concern of oral healthcare during the outbreak and even when the outbreak was controlled, the worry of infection made it difficult for people to meet their demands of dental attendance.Conclusion: The risk of cross-infection during the treatment had a negative influence on parental attitudes toward dental attendance. Effective measures should be taken to meet people's demands of dental attendance.

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A Therapeutic Technique for the Improvement of Lingua-Alveolar Valving Abilities

Language Speech and Hearing Services in Schools ◽

10.1044/0161-1461.0903.169 ◽

1978 ◽

Vol 9 (3) ◽

pp. 169-175 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

James Paul Dworkin

Keyword(s):

School Age Children ◽

School Age ◽

Bite Block ◽

Therapeutic Technique ◽

Remedial Program

This study was designed to determine if a remedial program using a bite-block device could inhibit hypermandibular activity (HMA) and thereby improve the lingua-alveolar valving (LAV) abilities of four school-age children who demonstrated multiple lingua-alveolar (LA) phonemic errors. The results revealed significant improvements in LAV and LA phoneme articulatory skills in all of the children who used the bite-block device to reduce HMA subsequent to comprehensive training sessions.

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Dimensions of Multiskilling

Language Speech and Hearing Services in Schools ◽

10.1044/0161-1461.3001.04 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 30 (1) ◽

pp. 4-10 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Carole E. Johnson

Keyword(s):

Hearing Loss ◽

Service Delivery ◽

Monitoring Program ◽

School Age Children ◽

School Age ◽

Support Personnel ◽

Educational Personnel ◽

Educational Audiology ◽

Children With Hearing Loss ◽

Improve Service Delivery

Educational audiologists often must delegate certain tasks to other educational personnel who function as support personnel and need training in order to perform assigned tasks. Support personnel are people who, after appropriate training, perform tasks that are prescribed, directed, and supervised by a professional such as a certified and licensed audiologist. The training of support personnel to perform tasks that are typically performed by those in other disciplines is calledmultiskilling. This article discusses multiskilling and the use of support personnel in educational audiology in reference to the following principles: guidelines, models of multiskilling, components of successful multiskilling, and "dos and don’ts" for multiskilling. These principles are illustrated through the use of multiskilling in the establishment of a hearing aid monitoring program. Successful multiskilling and the use of support personnel by educational audiologists can improve service delivery to school-age children with hearing loss.

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Perceptions of Stuttering of Different Age Groups

Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups ◽

10.1044/2019_pers-sig4-2018-0007 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 4 (6) ◽

pp. 1311-1315

Author(s):

Sergey M. Kondrashov ◽

John A. Tetnowski

Keyword(s):

Age Groups ◽

School Age Children ◽

Clinical Implications ◽

School Age ◽

Fourth Edition ◽

Self Perception ◽

Behavioral Measures ◽

Self Rating ◽

Comparison Results ◽

Subject Pool

Purpose The purpose of this study was to assess the perceptions of stuttering of school-age children who stutter and those of adults who stutter through the use of the same tools that could be commonly used by clinicians. Method Twenty-three participants across various ages and stuttering severity were administered both the Stuttering Severity Instrument–Fourth Edition (SSI-4; Riley, 2009 ) and the Wright & Ayre Stuttering Self-Rating Profile ( Wright & Ayre, 2000 ). Comparisons were made between severity of behavioral measures of stuttering made by the SSI-4 and by age (child/adult). Results Significant differences were obtained for the age comparison but not for the severity comparison. Results are explained in terms of the correlation between severity equivalents of the SSI-4 and the Wright & Ayre Stuttering Self-Rating Profile scores, with clinical implications justifying multi-aspect assessment. Conclusions Clinical implications indicate that self-perception and impact of stuttering must not be assumed and should be evaluated for individual participants. Research implications include further study with a larger subject pool and various levels of stuttering severity.

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The Speech-Language Pathologists' Role in Mild Traumatic Brain Injury for Middle and High School–Age Children: Viewpoints on Guidelines From the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology ◽

10.1044/2019_ajslp-18-0296 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 28 (3) ◽

pp. 1363-1370 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Jessica Brown ◽

Katy O'Brien ◽

Kelly Knollman-Porter ◽

Tracey Wallace

Keyword(s):

High School ◽

Traumatic Brain Injury ◽

Brain Injury ◽

Disease Control ◽

Mild Traumatic Brain Injury ◽

School Age Children ◽

School Age ◽

Speech Language Pathologists ◽

Control And Prevention ◽

Centers For Disease Control

Purpose The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently released guidelines for rehabilitation professionals regarding the care of children with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). Given that mTBI impacts millions of children each year and can be particularly detrimental to children in middle and high school age groups, access to universal recommendations for management of postinjury symptoms is ideal. Method This viewpoint article examines the CDC guidelines and applies these recommendations directly to speech-language pathology practices. In particular, education, assessment, treatment, team management, and ongoing monitoring are discussed. In addition, suggested timelines regarding implementation of services by speech-language pathologists (SLPs) are provided. Specific focus is placed on adolescents (i.e., middle and high school–age children). Results SLPs are critical members of the rehabilitation team working with children with mTBI and should be involved in education, symptom monitoring, and assessment early in the recovery process. SLPs can also provide unique insight into the cognitive and linguistic challenges of these students and can serve to bridge the gap among rehabilitation and school-based professionals, the adolescent with brain injury, and their parents. Conclusion The guidelines provided by the CDC, along with evidence from the field of speech pathology, can guide SLPs to advocate for involvement in the care of adolescents with mTBI. More research is needed to enhance the evidence base for direct assessment and treatment with this population; however, SLPs can use their extensive knowledge and experience working with individuals with traumatic brain injury as a starting point for post-mTBI care.

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Assessing Functional Language in School-Aged Children Using Language Sample Analysis

Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups ◽

10.1044/2020_persp-19-00079 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 5 (3) ◽

pp. 622-636

Author(s):

John Heilmann ◽

Alexander Tucci ◽

Elena Plante ◽

Jon F. Miller

Keyword(s):

Computer Hardware ◽

School Age Children ◽

Functional Language ◽

School Age ◽

Clinical Use ◽

Sample Analysis ◽

Validity And Reliability ◽

Language Sample Analysis ◽

Accuracy And Repeatability ◽

Language Sample

Purpose The goal of this clinical focus article is to illustrate how speech-language pathologists can document the functional language of school-age children using language sample analysis (LSA). Advances in computer hardware and software are detailed making LSA more accessible for clinical use. Method This clinical focus article illustrates how documenting school-age student's communicative functioning is central to comprehensive assessment and how using LSA can meet multiple needs within this assessment. LSA can document students' meaningful participation in their daily life through assessment of their language used during everyday tasks. The many advances in computerized LSA are detailed with a primary focus on the Systematic Analysis of Language Transcripts (Miller & Iglesias, 2019). The LSA process is reviewed detailing the steps necessary for computers to calculate word, morpheme, utterance, and discourse features of functional language. Conclusion These advances in computer technology and software development have made LSA clinically feasible through standardized elicitation and transcription methods that improve accuracy and repeatability. In addition to improved accuracy, validity, and reliability of LSA, databases of typical speakers to document status and automated report writing more than justify the time required. Software now provides many innovations that make LSA simpler and more accessible for clinical use. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.12456719

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Fostering the Literacy of indigenous Elementary School-Age Children

Perspectives on Communication Disorders and Sciences in Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Populations ◽

10.1044/cds15.1.5 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 15 (1) ◽

pp. 5-11 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Diane Frome Loeb ◽

Kathy Redbird

Keyword(s):

Native American ◽

Indigenous People ◽

Culturally Sensitive ◽

Literacy Skills ◽

School Age Children ◽

School Age ◽

Reading Curriculum ◽

Authentic Materials ◽

Elementary School Age ◽

Values And Beliefs

Abstract Purpose: In this article, we describe the existing literacy research with school-age children who are indigenous. The lack of data for this group of children requires speech-language pathologists (SLPs) to use expert opinion from indigenous and non-indigenous people to develop culturally sensitive methods for fostering literacy skills. Method: We describe two available curricula developed by indigenous people that are available, which use authentic materials and embed indigenous stories into the learning environment: The Indian Reading Series and the Northwest Native American Reading Curriculum. We also discuss the importance of using cooperative learning, multisensory instruction, and increased holistic emphasis to create a more culturally sensitive implementation of services. We provide an example of a literacy-based language facilitation that was developed for an indigenous tribe in Kansas. Conclusion: SLPs can provide services to indigenous children that foster literacy skills through storytelling using authentic materials as well as activities and methods that are consistent with the client's values and beliefs.

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