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Brain

OBJECTIVES: This study investigated the prevalence of reading and mathematical learning disabilities of students at primary schools in Jeju Island, South Korea. We examined major causes of learning disabilities including reading disorder, mathematical disorder, attention deficit, and other causes including socioemotional factors. METHODS: We conducted screening processes to 659 participants (340 male, 51%) in 4 elementary schools in Jeju Island. To identify the causes of learning problems, 84 children were administered tests such as the Korean-Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-fourth edition, the Comprehensive Learning Test-Reading/Math, and the Comprehensive Attention Test. RESULTS: This study found that 13% of elementary school students in the Jeju region had learning disabilities. Among learning disabilities, specific reading and mathematical disorders accounted for 9% of study subjects. In addition, 2% of participants had intellectual impairment and 1% had other causes such as socioemotional factors. 65% of children with learning disabilities and 74% of children with reading or mathematic disorders had concurrent attention deficit disorder. 68% of children with reading disorders also had comorbid mathematical disorder. CONCLUSION: The prevalence, causes, and comorbidity of reading and mathematical learning disabilities of students in Jeju Island, South Korea did not differ from those in foreign countries. Because most learning disabilities are complex, comprehensive evaluations and tailored interventions are necessary to help children with learning disabilities.
Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity ; Child* ; Comorbidity ; Dyscalculia ; Dyslexia ; Epidemiology ; Humans ; Intelligence ; Korea ; Learning Disorders* ; Learning* ; Male ; Mass Screening ; Mathematics ; Prevalence*

Objectives: This study investigated the effectiveness of the intervention program for elementary school students with reading disorders. Methods: The intervention program focused on phonological awareness, phonics, and decoding training applied individually to 25 children with a reading disorder by the teachers in charge for four months. To measure the efficacy, this study evaluated the word reading accuracy, fluency, and the related cognitive functions, including phonemic awareness, phonics, and rapid automatized naming using the Computerized Comprehensive Learning Test-Reading before and after the program. Results: After the intervention, improvements were observed in the following: the reading fluency score and fluency percentile in the word attack test; reading accuracy rate, fluency score, and fluency percentile in the nonword decoding test; fluency score and fluency percentile in the rapid automatized naming tests; accuracy rate in the letter-sound matching test; accuracy rate in the nonword repetition test. On the other hand, there was no significant difference in the paragraph reading fluency test. According to the subtypes of reading disabilities, children with dyslexic or mixed types improved after the intervention. Conclusion Reading accuracy and fluency of school-aged children with reading disorders improved through the intervention program by the schoolteachers.

Objectives: This study investigated the effectiveness of the intervention program for elementary school students with reading disorders. Methods: The intervention program focused on phonological awareness, phonics, and decoding training applied individually to 25 children with a reading disorder by the teachers in charge for four months. To measure the efficacy, this study evaluated the word reading accuracy, fluency, and the related cognitive functions, including phonemic awareness, phonics, and rapid automatized naming using the Computerized Comprehensive Learning Test-Reading before and after the program. Results: After the intervention, improvements were observed in the following: the reading fluency score and fluency percentile in the word attack test; reading accuracy rate, fluency score, and fluency percentile in the nonword decoding test; fluency score and fluency percentile in the rapid automatized naming tests; accuracy rate in the letter-sound matching test; accuracy rate in the nonword repetition test. On the other hand, there was no significant difference in the paragraph reading fluency test. According to the subtypes of reading disabilities, children with dyslexic or mixed types improved after the intervention. Conclusion Reading accuracy and fluency of school-aged children with reading disorders improved through the intervention program by the schoolteachers.

OBJECTIVES: This study was conducted in order to develop a computerized test to measure the level of mathematic achievement and related cognitive functions in children and adolescents in South Korea. METHODS: The computerized Comprehensive Learning Test-Mathematic (CLT-M) consists of the whole number computation test, enumeration of dot group test, number line estimation test, numeral comparing test (magnitude/distance), rapid automatized naming test, digit span test, and working memory test. To obtain the necessary data and to investigate the reliability and validity of this test, 399 children and adolescents from kindergarten to middle school were recruited. RESULTS: The internal consistency reliability of the CLT-M was high (Cronbach's alpha=0.76). Four factors explained 66.4% of the cumulative variances. In addition, the data for all of the CLT-M subtests were obtained. CONCLUSION: The computerized CLT-M can be used as a reliable and valid tool to evaluate the level of mathematical achievement and associated cognitive functions in Korean children and adolescents. This test can also be helpful to detect mathematical learning disabilities, including specific learning disorder with impairment in mathematics, in Korea.
Adolescent* ; Child* ; Cognition ; Dyscalculia ; Humans ; Korea ; Learning ; Learning Disorders ; Mathematics* ; Memory, Short-Term ; Reproducibility of Results ; Specific Learning Disorder

PURPOSE: To compare the choroidal thickness of a branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO) lesion and that of other areas in the eyes. METHODS: Patients who visited the Ophthalmologic Clinic of Inje University Sanggye Paik Hospital for BRVO between March 2015 and October 2015 were reviewed retrospectively. We performed basic ophthalmologic exam and enhanced depth imaging optical coherence tomography in 48 eyes of 24 patients with BRVO. The choroidal thickness was compared in a total of 4 places, the branch retinal vein occlusion lesion, the symmetric site in the same eye, and the equivalent sites in the fellow eye by paired t-test. All measurements were performed by 2 independent observers. RESULTS: Choroidal thickness had strong inter-observer correlation. Choroidal thickness of the BRVO lesion was significantly thicker than that in the symmetric site of same eye, the equivalent site of lesion, and the equivalent site of the symmetric site to lesion in the fellow eye. CONCLUSIONS: Choroidal thickness in acute BRVO lesions was thicker than choroidal thickness in other areas of the eyes. It is thought that both hydrostatic pressure and the effects of vascular endothelial growth factor influence choroidal thickness in the acute phase of BRVO.
Choroid* ; Humans ; Hydrostatic Pressure ; Retinal Vein Occlusion* ; Retinal Vein* ; Retinaldehyde* ; Retrospective Studies ; Tomography, Optical Coherence ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to develop the computerized Comprehensive Learning Test-Reading (CLT-R) to evaluate the cognitive processes and achievements related to their basic reading ability and identify dyslexia in children and adolescents in South Korea. We also obtained the normative data and evaluated the reliability and validity of the test. METHODS: We developed the CLT-R, including the word attack/nonword decoding, paragraph reading, sound blending, nonword repetition, rapid automatized naming, letter-sound matching, visual attention, orthography awareness, and digit span tests, for the purpose of diagnosing dyslexia. We investigated the reliability and validity of the tests and gathered the normative data from 399 subjects (male 48.9%), aged 5-14 years, from the last grade in kindergarten to middle school, dwelling in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. RESULTS: No statistical differences were observed between the means of the tests and retests of the CAT. The mean of the correlation coefficient of the test-retest scores was 0.85. According to the construct validity test calculated by principal constant analysis using the oblique rotation method, 4 factors explained 70.0% of the cumulative variances. In addition, the normative data were obtained for all of the CLT-R subtests. CONCLUSION: The computerized CLT-R can be used as a reliable and valid tool to evaluate the reading achievement and reading related cognitive process in Korean children and adolescents in schools, clinics, and research institutes.
Academies and Institutes ; Adolescent* ; Animals ; Cats ; Child* ; Diagnosis* ; Dyslexia* ; Gyeonggi-do ; Humans ; Korea ; Learning* ; Methods ; Reading ; Reproducibility of Results ; Seoul

Objectives: This study aimed to identify the effectiveness of treatment programs for children with reading (RD) or mathematics disorders (MD). Structured treatment programs were developed to improve phonological awareness and number sense among children and adolescents with RD or MD, respectively, and the effectiveness of the learning disorder treatment programs were evaluated. Methods: We used standardized, objective diagnostic, and evaluation tools not only to recruit participants with RD, MD, or comorbid attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder, but also to assess the effectiveness of the treatments regarding both improved core neurocognitive deficits of RD or MD and academic achievement. Forty children with RD or MD received one-on-one treatments from therapists. Results: In the RD group, treatment effects were observed in all subtests. In the word and paragraph reading tests, the accuracy rates and fluency improved. The results of the phonological working memory test, word–sound correspondence test, and rapid automatic naming tests also improved. In the MD group, the accuracy rate and fluency on the arithmetic test improved. An increase in the accuracy rate in the size and distance comparison tests and a decrease in the error rate in the estimation test were also observed. However, there were no improvements in reaction time in these subtests. Conclusion Learning disorder treatment programs that focus on improving phonological awareness or number sense in children with RD or MD improved achievement, phonological awareness, and number sense.

OBJECTIVES: This study was conducted in order to develop and obtain the normative data of the computerized Comprehensive Attention Test (CAT) in Korean children and adolescents. It also aimed to evaluate the reliability and validity of the CAT. METHODS: We developed the computerized CAT which includes the selective attention task, the sustained attention to response task, the flanker task, the divided attention task, and the spatial working memory task. We investigated the testretest reliability and the construction validity of this computerized version by using the data from 21 children, and gathered the normative data of 912 subjects, aged 4 to 15 years, dwelling in the Metropolitan Seoul area in 2008. RESULTS: No statistical differences between means of the tests and retests of the CAT were observed. The mean of the correlation coefficient of the test-retest scores was 0.715. The results from the factor analyses explained 51.7% of the cumulative variance. In addition, the normative data for all of the CAT subtests were obtained. CONCLUSION: The computerized CAT can be used as a reliable and valid tool in both clinical and research settings for Korean children and adolescents with or without neuropsychiatric conditions such as attention deficit.
Adolescent ; Aged ; Animals ; Cats ; Child ; Humans ; Memory, Short-Term ; Reproducibility of Results

Disruptive behavioral disorders [oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) and conduct disorder (CD)] are common comorbid disorders in children and adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). ODD/CD may be comorbid up to 60% of children and adolescents with ADHD. Comorbid ODD and CD symptoms can have a significant impact on the course and prognosis of patients with ADHD. Stimulant medications have shown effectiveness in treating both core ADHD symptoms and oppositional symptoms. Assessment and management of comorbid disruptive behavioral symptoms is an essential part in evaluation and treatment of ADHD patients. Further research is needed to investigate the efficacy and safety of various behavioral and medication regimens for ADHD, comorbid ODD and CD and to examine the relationships between ADHD, comorbid ODD and CD.
Adolescent ; Behavioral Symptoms ; Child ; Conduct Disorder ; Humans ; Prognosis