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*

Anabolic Agents ; Biology ; Bone Matrix ; Cell Culture Techniques ; Cell Line ; Negotiating ; Osteoblasts ; Osteogenesis

Animals ; Bone and Bones ; Bone Marrow ; Bone Regeneration ; Bone Substitutes ; Ceramics ; Durapatite ; Fibrin ; Mesenchymal Stromal Cells ; Microspheres ; Osteoblasts ; Rats

Aggrecans ; Alkaline Phosphatase ; Bone Regeneration ; Cell Culture Techniques ; Collagen ; Dental Implants ; Durapatite ; Electrons ; Extracellular Matrix Proteins ; Gene Expression ; Integrin-Binding Sialoprotein ; Mesenchymal Stromal Cells ; Osteocalcin ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Titanium

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: 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 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.

BACKGROUND: Unplanned intensive care unit admission (UIA) is associated with perioperative morbidity and mortality, and can be used as a surrogate marker for patient safety. This study aimed to compare the characteristics of planned and unplanned intensive care unit (ICU) admission groups. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the electronic medical records of adult patients admitted to the ICU after abdominal and thyroid surgery under general anesthesia between 2016 and 2017. Preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative information of enrolled patients was recorded. We compared patients' characteristics and outcomes between the unplanned and planned admission groups. RESULTS: In the total cohort, the proportion of UIA was 82.8% (202/244). In the unplanned admission group, total hospital stay was significantly shorter and ICU stay longer than that in the planned admission group (19.0 and 3.0 days, respectively vs. 28.5 and 2.0 days, respectively). In-hospital mortality rates were 21.3% and 7.1% in the unplanned and planned groups, respectively (P = 0.055). Patients in the UIA group showed higher Acute Physiology And Chronic Health Evaluation II scores, higher American Society of Anesthesiologist physical status class, and more co-morbidities than those in the planned group. There were significant differences in the incidence of UIA among surgery types. CONCLUSIONS: The UIA group had a relatively high mortality rate and longer ICU stay. More critically ill patients tended to be admitted to the ICU without planning.
Adult ; Anesthesia ; Anesthesia, General ; APACHE ; Biomarkers ; Cohort Studies ; Critical Care ; Critical Illness ; Electronic Health Records ; Hospital Mortality ; Humans ; Incidence ; Intensive Care Units ; Length of Stay ; Mortality ; Patient Safety ; Perioperative Care ; Retrospective Studies ; Thyroid Gland

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