Impact of Dance Movement Psychotherapy on the wellbeing of caregivers of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

OBJECTIVES: Sustaining the wellbeing of caregivers of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) can be highly demanding. This study explored the impact of Dance Movement Psychotherapy (DMP) intervention on the wellbeing of caregivers in comparison with their standard care routine. STUDY DESIGN: This pilot evaluation study used a quasi-experimental design. METHODS: Thirty-seven caregivers of children with ASD were recruited from two special educational needs settings and were allocated to the DMP intervention or the control group depending on their availability to attend the sessions. The participants in the intervention group received five DMP sessions lasting 90 min each. Adult Wellbeing Scale (AWS) and Parenting Stress Index-Short Form (PSI-SF) were the two outcome measures administered before and after DMP to measure the impact of DMP intervention on caregivers' wellbeing and parental stress. RESULTS: The retention rates were poor, with only 50% of participants in the DMP intervention arm attending at least 70% of the sessions until its end. The Minimal Clinically Important Difference (MCID) was achieved for a small effect size in both outcome measures in the DMP intervention group but not in the control group. Results from the Analyses of Covariance (ANCOVAs) showed a significant difference in post-intervention scores between the DMP intervention and the control group for AWS (F1,33 = 106.474, P < 0.001) but not for PSI-SF. In addition, a significant association was found between pre-intervention scores and the number of sessions attended with the postintervention scores of both AWS and PSI-SF. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this pilot DMP study are promising. However, before running a larger randomised controlled trial, strategies to support caregivers to attend the intervention need to be considered carefully.

An unusual non-immunological cause of renal pulmonary syndrome.

A 38-year-old Caucasian male presented with a 4-week history of nose bleeds, gross hematuria and blurred vision. He was a smoker, who had used cannabis and cocaine previously. At presentation, he had features of malignant hypertension (blood pressure 220/120 mmHg), was hypoxic on room air, with no signs of fluid overload or heart failure. He had acute renal failure with radiological evidence of alveolar hemorrhage. Renal biopsy showed extensive ischemic collapse of glomeruli and severe fibrointimal thickening of the arteries with fibrinoid deposits in the wall. Auto-immune screen was negative. Serum creatinine peaked at 749 micromol/l. Adequate control of blood pressure and supportive oxygen therapy lead to a complete clinical and radiological resolution of the pulmonary hemorrhage and he did not need dialysis. Eighteen months on, his serum creatinine is stable at 279 micromol/l with good blood pressure control. Malignant hypertension is not a recognized cause of the renal-pulmonary syndrome and physicians should be aware of the possibility, if only to avoid inappropriate treatments like plasmapheresis and immunosuppression. History of cocaine use is important in the setting of an acute vascular event.

Otitis media with effusion in children: an audiological case series study.

Otitis media with effusion (OME) was studied in detail in 100 children seen at the Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) Clinic of Port Moresby General Hospital (PMGH) between June 1992 and June 1994. More males were examined than females. The majority of patients were from the National Capital District and Central Province. Pure-tone and impedance audiometry were performed to assess the type, amount and pattern of hearing loss. A characteristic audiogram for OME with improved air conduction (AC) and decreased bone conduction (BC) hearing at 2 KHz and AC loss at both low and high frequencies was established. Bilateral myringotomy and grommet insertion was performed in 30 of these children. Significant improvement in hearing threshold at all frequencies was found, indicating hearing success with surgery. Otitis media with effusion is a disease of considerable public health importance and there is a need to increase public and professional awareness of it in Papua New Guinea.