A correlation study of diet, oral hygiene and dental caries in 457 Canadian children.

The interrelationship of diet, oral hygiene and caries was evaluated. Of the sample size of 457 children, 234 were in grade 1 and 223 grade 7. Five-day diet surveys were obtained, followed by clinical examinations for oral hygiene and caries. One examiner, using mouth mirror, explorer and extraoral light, conducted the caries examination. From the diet surveys, refined and total carbohydrate consumption was calculated per day; between meals, at meals, and totaled for the day. Five-day totals, which included one weekend, were recorded along with frequency of eating per day and for the 5-day periods. Computer analysis revealed no significant correlation between the diet variables and caries or oral hygiene indices and caries. The children with high caries indices did not have the poorest oral hygiene nor consume the most carbohydrates. Similarly, the children with low caries indices did not have the cleanest teeth nor consume lesser amounts of carbohydrates.

The relationship among learning, health beliefs, alcohol consumption, and tobacco use of primigravidas.

The purposes of this study were to identify how pregnant women learned about alcohol consumption and tobacco use, and to identify the relationship between learning, health beliefs and behaviours. Determining how pregnant women learned was based upon Tough's and Knowles' view of learning and consisted of identifying knowledge levels, resources utilized, advice given, time in learning, and initiators of learning episodes. The ex post facto research design involved one-hour interviews with 128 primigravidas at 8 hospitals in British Columbia, 75% of the sample consumed alcoholic beverages before becoming pregnant and these women reduced their intake by an average of 82%; 39% smoked cigarettes before becoming pregnant and these women reduced their cigarette smoking by an average of 52%. Drinkers were advised not to consume alcoholic beverages during pregnancy, whereas smokers were told by friends and family members that it was okay to smoke during pregnancy. Engagement in other-initiated learning episodes was found to be correlated with reduced alcohol intake (p less than or equal to .05); whereas, health beliefs were not correlated with reduced alcohol intake. Neither self-initiated nor other-initiated learning was associated with reduced cigarette smoking; however, perceived risk was associated with reduced cigarette smoking. Knowledge about smoking was associated with health beliefs, suggesting that learning may be indirectly related to smoking behaviours. This study should be replicated with a larger sample to determine the directionality of the association between learning, beliefs and behaviours.

Prediction of preclinical operative dentistry performance in two instructional methods.

This study evaluated the accuracy of manual and academic variables in predicting preclinical operative technique performance. In addition, it tested and compared two teaching methods and their effects on performance outcomes. Simple correlations and stepwise multiple regression analysis were used. Although correlations were low, they were significant for predicting performance using the Perceptual Motor Ability Test (PMAT) of the Dental Admission Test (DAT). The treatment of the two groups showed that students with low or average two dimension (2D) scores on the PMAT benefited from an alternate teaching method in the preclinical operative technique course.

Hearing impairment in children of low birthweight.

Audiometer evaluations were carried out on a population of 204 low birth weight (LBW) children and 123 controls. In the LBW group, 6 children (3.3%) had a bilateral loss and 5 (2.5%) had a unilateral sensorineural high-frequency hearing loss. No case of sensorineural hearing loss was found among the controls. There were 13 (6.4%) cases of conductive loss among the LBW sample, compared with 3 (2.4%) among the controls. Correlation coefficients showed a relationship between sensorineural impairment and: bilirubin level, incubator time, antibiotic history, and neurological status. Subsequent multiple classification analyses showed that, while incubator time and bilirubin level are each significant predictors of sensorineural loss, this is not the case with antibiotics or neurological status. Neurological status was closely associated with the syndrome of LBW, high bilirubin level, extended incubator time and sensorineural loss. However, no significant relationship could be found between neurological impairment and these predictors nor can it be regarded as useful in predicting hearing loss in this population.

Maternal age and congenital optic nerve hypoplasia: a possible clue to etiology.

The maternal age of two groups of children with congenital handicaps, cerebral palsy and fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), were examined and compared with a group of mothers of children with congenital optic-nerve hypoplasia (CONH). The maternal age of children with CONH was significantly less than for the cerebral-palsied children which, in turn, was significantly less than for the FAS children. In addition, about one-half of the children with CONH had associated handicaps which clustered into four progressively more severe combinations. Maternal age and the occurrence of endocrine problems did not differ significantly among the clusters.

Clinical profile and prevalence of fetal alcohol syndrome in an isolated community in British Columbia.

The authors were invited by the band council to carry out a study to determine the prevalence of alcohol embryopathy among children in a native Indian community in British Columbia. The mothers of the 123 children aged 18 years or less who lived in the community were interviewed. In addition, educational screening was carried out for children in grades 1 through 12, and 116 of the children underwent medical examination. A diagnosis of fetal alcohol syndrome or fetal alcohol effects (FAS/FAE) was made in 22 children aged 3 to 18 years. Each of these children was matched for age and sex with an unaffected child in the same community, and both groups underwent psychoeducational testing. The children with FAS/FAE showed a generalized depressed level of functioning compared with the unaffected children. The finding that two thirds of the children with FAS/FAE were mentally retarded points to a major health and education problem.