Understanding social cognition in children with cerebral palsy: exploring the relationship with executive functions and the intervention outcomes in a randomized controlled trial.

Children with Cerebral Palsy (CP) experience Social Cognition (SC) difficulties, which could be related to executive functioning. While motor interventions are common, there is limited knowledge about the impact of cognitive interventions on SC in this population. This study examined the relationship between SC and Executive Function (EF) skills and the effectiveness of an EF intervention that included some SC tasks for improving SC in children with CP. SC and EF domains were assessed in 60 participants with CP (30 females; 8-12 years). The relationship between SC and EF baseline scores was analyzed by bivariate correlations and contingency tables. Participants were matched by age, sex, motor ability, and intelligence quotient and randomized into intervention or control groups. The intervention group underwent a 12-week home-based computerized EF intervention. Analysis of covariance was used to examine differences in SC components between groups at post-intervention and 9 months after. Significant positive correlations were found between the SC and EF scores. The frequencies of impaired and average scores in SC were distributed similarly to the impaired and average scores in EFs. The intervention group showed significant improvements in Affect Recognition performance post-intervention, which were maintained at the follow-up assessment, with a moderate effect size. Long-term improvements in Theory of Mind were observed 9 months after. CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights the association between SC and EFs. A home-based computerized cognitive intervention program improves SC in children with CP. Including SC tasks in EF interventions may lead to positive short- and long-term effects for children with CP. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT04025749 retrospectively registered on 19 July 2019. WHAT IS KNOWN: • Executive functions and social cognition are associated with social and community participation in people with cerebral palsy. • A home-based computerized cognitive intervention can improve the executive functioning of children with cerebral palsy. WHAT IS NEW: • Social cognition performance is related to core and higher-order executive functions. • A home-based computerized executive function intervention, including social cognition tasks, has positive short- and long-term effects on social cognition skills in children with cerebral palsy.

Nuestra experiencia en el tratamiento acortado de la tuberculosis / Our experience in the brief treatment of tuberculosis

Se ha hecho este estudio con 57 pacientes varones diagnosticados de Tuberculosis Pulmonar activa. El esquema empleado fue acogido entre varios experimentados para su tratamiento, con el cual hemos obtenido excelentes resultados. El esquema ha sido durante 8 meses en dos fases: La primera fue diario por dos meses asociando Isoniazida, Estreptomicina, Rifampicina y Pirazinamida. En una segunda fase de seis meses de asoció Isoniazida y Rifampicina; con ellos se obtuvo la conversión bacteriológica en un 96.5 por ciento de los casos a los 30 días y 100 por ciento a los 45 días de iniciado el tratamiento. No se presentaron abandonos del tratamiento y en el segundo de estos casos hasta los 18 meses no hubo ninguna recaída