Makale Arama

Background: We aimed to investigate the neurodevelopmental outcomes and school success of 11- to 12-year-old children born as moderate/late preterm infants and identify risk factors affecting prognosis.

Methods: Moderate/late preterm infants followed in the neonatal intensive care unit between January 2004 and December 2004 were included, and the children were examined again in our pediatrics outpatient clinic in 2016. Perinatal and neonatal histories were obtained from the hospital database. Physical growth characteristics were interpreted. Neurodevelopment was evaluated using the revised Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-R). The Pediatric Symptom Checklist (PSC) was also applied. The effect of socioeconomic level on neurodevelopmental outcome was examined. School performance was evaluated using report card grades.

Results: Forty-one children with a mean age of 11.6 years were evaluated. Risk factors associated with physical growth outcomes were maternal age of >35 years, fetal distress, and patent ductus arteriosus. Sepsis was associated with a decrease in verbal intelligence while periventricular leukomalacia had negative effects on both verbal and performance intelligence. Socioeconomic level showed a medium correlation with performance and full-scale intelligence. The intelligence quotients of the children with positive PSC scores were significantly lower.

Conclusions: Moderate/late preterm infants lag both neurologically and developmentally due to incomplete maturation of the brain and natal problems. Similarly, to early preterm infants, these children should be monitored for extended periods, and family support, rehabilitation, and special education needs should be met.

This study was aimed to compare the knowledge levels of health education teachers with others in basic health subjects. This crosssectional study was performed in all high schools in Konya city center in 2011. The sample consisted of teachers who taught health education or counseled in health related clubs and same number of teachers of other lessons. Data were obtained by a questionnaire filled by teachers themselves under the supervision of interviewer. First part of the questionnaire was about demographic information while the second consisted of 35 questions evaluating the knowledge about protection, improvement, vaccines, contagion, diet, healthy behavior, adolescent health, first approach to frequently encountered health problems, etc. Overall level of health knowledge was assessed by summing the points for each subject, 2 for known, 1 for partially known and 0 for unknown/blank, and converting them to percentage. T test and variation analysis were used for data analysis. The mean age of 314 teachers participated in the study was 39±8, 55% of them were males, 45% were females and 90% were married. 39% of the participants consisted of health education teachers and guide teachers of health related clubs, 61% were the teachers of other lessons. The average score was higher in health education group (56±16) than the other teachers (43±14). The knowledge score was also higher in female teachers and graduates of health related faculties (biology, physical education, child development). Teaching health education or counseling in a health related club increases the general knowledge level of teachers. In writers’ opinion, improving the knowledge level of teachers in health might help students to acquire positive behaviors about health as the current level is not adequate and significant number of wrong answers was present.