The important concepts in the management of microbial keratitis

Eye practitioners in the Caribbean must be aware of the issues involved in the management of microbial keratitis. A comprehensive literature review is presented in order to outline appropriate management strategies and to identify when referral may be indicated. (AU)

Treatment of trichuris trichiura infections improves growth, spelling scores and school attendance in some children

The effects of treating Trichuris trichiura infections were investigated in 407 Jamaican children age 6 to 12 years. The children were randomly assigned to receive treatment (albendazole) or a placebo. The outcome variables included growth, tests of reading, spelling and arithmetic, and school attendance. After 6 months of treatment, there was no significant main effect on any of the outcomes. However, there were significant treatment-by-infection intensity interactions with spelling (P < 0.05) and body mass index (P < 0.01), and a significant treatment-by-stunting interaction with school attendance (P < 0.01). In spelling, the children with heavy infections showed improvements with treatment that approached significance d(P = 0.06), whereas those with lower intensities did not. However, the children with lower infection intensities had increased body mass index with treatment (P = 0.02), although there was no difference in children with heavy infections. In school attendance, the stunted children improved with treatment (P < 0.04), whereas there was no difference in the nonstunted children. These findings suggest that in the sample of Jamaican children examined, the treatment of T. trichiura was more likely to benefit school performance in children of poor nutritional status and those with heavy infections, and to improve weight gain in children with lighter infection intensities (AU)

Educational and career aspirations of secondary school students in Grenada following the American intervention

This paper reports a study of educational and occupational aspirations of secondary school students in Grenada following the 1983 American intervention. Questionnaire data were obtained from 729 students attending 7 of the island's 18 secondary schools. A status attainment model containing parental and family characteristics was tested. It was discovered that Grenadian students have exceptionally and unrealitically high aspirations. Although the opportunity structure in Grenada is very limited compared to that in the United States, the island's students have higher levels of aspirations. The status attainment model was not very useful in explaining either educational or occupational aspirations, as the levels of explained variance were less than 5 percent. The implications of high aspirations and low opportunities for the future of Grenada are discussed. (AU)

The associations between nutritional status, school achievement and school attendance in twelve-year-old children at a Jamaican school

A study of the nutritional status, school achievement levels and school attendance of 389 children in Grade VII of a Jamaican rural comprehensive school was carried out. The children tended to be lighter and shorter than international standards. There were significant associations between nutritional status, school achievement and school attendance. School attendance contributed more to the variance in achievance level than nutritional status. The problems of the underachievers are discussed in the light of poverty, poor nutrition and poor school achievement being compounded by poor school attendance (AU)

Psychiatric disorder in the children of West Indian immigrants

The clinical characteristics of fifty-five children, born of West Indian parents, who had been referred to a Child Guidance Clinic over a period of three years, are described. The children are compared with fifty-five other children matched for age and sex. Roughly equal numbers of West Indian boys and girls were referred, although there is a considerable preponderance of boys in the rest of the clinic population. The two groups did not differ in social class or family size, nor was there a high rate of current separation amongst the parents of West Indian children. However, the West Indian children had suffered more separations from parent figures in their early years. West Indian boys showed less neurotic disorder and West Indian girls more antisocial disorder than the controls. All groups showed a severe degree of reading retardation. Caution is expressed about generalizing these findings to the population from which the children are drawn, but there is felt to be a clear cause for concern in the frequent and sometimes traumatic separations that the current migration imposes on West Indian family life (Summary)

Delay of gratification, need for achievement, and acquiescence in another culture

This study using 112 Trinidadian subjects aged 11-14, tested the relationship between the preference for immediate, smaller (IMR) or delayed, larger (DelR) reinforcement in choice situations and (a) n Achievement, (b) acquiescence (yeasaying or naysinging in an ambiguous situation). The expected significant positive relationships between preference for DelR and n Achievement were found. The inverse relationship between preference for DelR and acquiescence was, as predicted, also obtained. n Achievement was inversely related to acquiescence but only as a statistically non-significant trend. Responses to a simple open-ended aspiration measure, approriate for use in other cultures, were found to significantly differentiate high and low n Achievement subjects as measured by the standard procedure, more occupational aspirations being given by n Achievement subjects. The possible usefulness of this aspiration measure as an alternative index of n Achievement in field work was suggested. Data on the interelationships between a measure of social responsibility and the other variables were also presented. The overall findings support the usefulness of relatively simple choice situations for eliciting preference for ImR as opposed to DelR in the attempt to elaborate the variables relevant to the ability to delay immediate gratification for the sake of later, larger outcomes, within the context of another culture. The present findings serve to elaborate the network of correlates of choice preferences for delayed, larger gratifications when these are opposed to smaller but immediately available rewards (Summary)