Development outcomes of Thai children with cleft lip/palate at 5-years-old.

OBJECTIVE: To measure the development outcomes among Thai children with non-syndromic cleft lip and/or palate (CLP) treated at the Tawanchai Center 5 years after birth. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Using a developmental screening test, Thai children with CLP were followed-up at the center. RESULTS: Nearly two-thirds (62.5%) of 24 Thai children with CLP had delayed development. Eight of the children had more than one delayed category and 13 both "delayed" and "caution". Delayed language, personal, social and fine motor skills occurred in 54.2%, 20.8% (5/24) and 20.8% (5/24) of cases, respectively. CONCLUSION: An understanding of the incidence of the different types of delays will help our center to improve our treatment standards and place more emphasis on psychosocial and development outcomes.

Breathing meditation by medical students at Khon Kaen University: effect on psychiatric symptoms, memory, intelligence and academic achievement.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the short-term effects on fifth-year medical students of a 4-week, breathing meditation-based, stress reduction intervention on psychiatric symptoms, memory function, intelligence, and academic achievement. MATERIALS AND METHOD: Using a randomized control trial, the meditation group practiced every 8.00 to 8.20 a.m. before beginning daily learning schedule. Meditation emphasized mindful awareness of the breath during inhaling and exhaling. The control group went about their normal activities in the other room. The psychiatric symptoms were measured using the Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90), the memory used the Wechsler Memory Scale-I (WMS-I), the intelligence used the Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices (APM), and the academic achievement used psychiatry course MCQ examination score. Analysis was done using Ancova statistic. RESULTS: Fifty-eight volunteer medical students during their psychiatry rotation between June 2008 and May 2009, were randomized into either in the meditation (n = 30) or the control (non-meditation) (n = 28) group. There was no significant difference between the groups in their respective SCL-90, WMS-I, APM, and psychiatry course MCQ examination score. CONCLUSION: Among normal, intelligent, mentally healthy persons, short-term breathing meditation practice will not likely change psychiatric symptoms, memory function, intellectual performance, and academic achievement.