Obesity, a worldwide epidemic related to heart disease and stroke: group IV prevention/treatment

Obesity is a worldwide problem, not just an issue for industrialized nations. Therefore, we need to examine opportunities for prevention and treatment from a global perspective.

Metamemory training for memory disorders in adults with a closed head injury

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the efficacy of a memory and metamemory training program on memory performance and metamemory judgement accuracy in adults with a closed head injury. A multiple baseline across subjects design was used with six subjects. All subjects were seen at least two years post-injury. Training included general metamemory information about the nature of memory, use of a specific memory strategy to assist verbal recall (to Preview, Question, Read, State and Test- PQRST), specific metamemory information about the strategy, and a self instruction procedure (WTSC- What is the task, Select a strategy to use, Try out strategy, Check to evaluate strategy effectiveness). During the training period all subjects recalled greater than fifty percent of paragraph ideas while using PQRST. Follow-up tests showed that five of the six subjects maintained recall levels but a gradual decrease in slope was observed over eight weeks post-training. Tests of recall, recognition and metamemory judgements on Sentence and Action Tasks were used to evaluate generalisation of training. Two subjects showed improved recall and two subjects showed improved recognition performance. In addition, four subjects demonstrated greater metamemory judgement accuracy about recognition performance following training. Improved performance post-training was also observed for three subjects on the Rivermead Behavioral Memory Test and the Logical Memory subtest of the Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised, greater than that expected for repeated testing. Several factors were identified as having a role in subjects’ ability to benefit from training.

Effect of subjective reasoning and neurocognition on medication adherence for persons with schizophrenia

Objective: This study investigated the relationship between patients' reasoning about medication adherence and neurocognitive and clinical indices for a treatment-compliant sample of Japanese patients with schizophrenia.

Methods: Subjective reasoning about medication adherence was assessed by the Rating of Medication Influences (ROMI) scale. General intelligence, executive function, and verbal memory were assessed by the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, and Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test, respectively.

Results: Higher prevention scores were associated with lower executive functioning and older age. Influence of others was associated with years of education, medication dosage, and IQ, and medication affinity was associated with education.

Conclusions: These results suggest that executive functioning, education, and general IQ may all be important factors in individual motivation for medication adherence.

Investigation of the WISC-III and WASI in clinical child populations : a framework for further exploration

To promote efficient clinical practice, interest has been growing in brief assessment scales to replace full-scale versions in some circumstances. In nonclinical populations, the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (WASI) has substituted for the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children—Third Edition (WISC-III). Agreement between these scales remains untested in clinical populations. Twenty-five children, aged 6 to 15 years old were assessed. A correlational and within-participant design was used. These scales were significantly correlated. Despite a fourth edition of the WISC now available, WASI administration alone would at times appear to be a quick and valid estimate of IQ. Replication with the WISC-IV seems necessary to clarify the verbal/ performance distance criterion discrepancy and also the meaning of some variability between the scale and subtests.

Simulated astigmatism impairs academic-related performance in children

Purpose: Astigmatism is an important refractive condition in children. However, the functional impact of uncorrected astigmatism in this population is not well established, particularly with regard to academic performance. This study investigated the impact of simulated bilateral astigmatism on academic-related tasks before and after sustained near work in children. Methods: Twenty visually normal children (mean age: 10.8 ± 0.7 years; six males and 14 females) completed a range of standardised academic-related tests with and without 1.50 D of simulated bilateral astigmatism (with both academic-related tests and the visual condition administered in a randomised order). The simulated astigmatism was induced using a positive cylindrical lens while maintaining a plano spherical equivalent. Performance was assessed before and after 20 min of sustained near work, during two separate testing sessions. Academic-related measures included a standardised reading test (the Neale Analysis of Reading Ability), visual information processing tests (Coding and Symbol Search subtests from the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children) and a reading-related eye movement test (the Developmental Eye Movement test). Each participant was systematically assigned either with-the-rule (WTR, axis 180°) or against-the-rule (ATR, axis 90°) simulated astigmatism to evaluate the influence of axis orientation on any decrements in performance. Results: Reading, visual information processing and reading-related eye movement performance were all significantly impaired by both simulated bilateral astigmatism (p < 0.001) and sustained near work (p < 0.001), however, there was no significant interaction between these factors (p > 0.05). Simulated astigmatism led to a reduction of between 5% and 12% in performance across the academic-related outcome measures, but there was no significant effect of the axis (WTR or ATR) of astigmatism (p > 0.05). Conclusion: Simulated bilateral astigmatism impaired children's performance on a range of academic-related outcome measures irrespective of the orientation of the astigmatism. These findings have implications for the clinical management of non-amblyogenic levels of astigmatism in relation to academic performance in children. Correction of low to moderate levels of astigmatism may improve the functional performance of children in the classroom.

Simulated hyperopic anisometropia and reading, visual information processing, and reading-related eye movement performance in children.

Purpose: This study investigated the impact of simulated hyperopic anisometropia and sustained near work on performance of academic-related measures in children.
Methods: Participants included 16 children (mean age: 11.1 ± 0.8 years) with minimal refractive error. Academic-related outcome measures included a reading test (Neale Analysis of Reading Ability), visual information–processing tests (Coding and Symbol Search subtests from the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children), and a reading-related eye movement test (Developmental Eye Movement test). Performance was assessed with and without 0.75 diopters of simulated monocular hyperopic defocus (administered in a randomized order), before and after 20 minutes of sustained near work. Unilateral hyperopic defocus was systematically assigned to either the dominant or nondominant sighting eye to evaluate the impact of ocular dominance on any performance decrements.
Results: Simulated hyperopic anisometropia and sustained near work both independently reduced performance on all of the outcome measures (P < 0.001). A significant interaction was also observed between simulated anisometropia and near work (P < 0.05), with the greatest decrement in performance observed during simulated anisometropia in combination with sustained near work. Laterality of the refractive error simulation (ocular dominance) did not significantly influence the outcome measures (P > 0.05). A reduction of up to 12% in performance was observed across the range of academic-related measures following sustained near work undertaken during the anisometropic simulation.
Conclusions: Simulated hyperopic anisometropia significantly impaired academic-related performance, particularly in combination with sustained near work. The impact of uncorrected habitual anisometropia on academic-related performance in children requires further investigation. © 2014 The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, Inc.