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[Severely mentally and physically disabled in Gunma Prefecture]
Insights
This study surveyed 133 severely disabled children in Gunma prefecture, finding institutionalized children had more feeding and complication issues. Causes varied between home- and institution-cared disabled youth.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Neurology
- Public Health
Context:
- Focuses on severely disabled children (IQ ≤ 35) aged 6-15.
- Examines children unable to stand or walk, even with support.
- Data collected from Gunma prefecture, Japan, as of September 1, 1991.
Purpose:
- To investigate the severity, causes, complications, and past medical histories of severely disabled children.
- To compare characteristics between children institutionalized and those cared for at home.
Summary:
- Identified birth asphyxia and unknown congenital etiology as primary causes for institutionalized children.
- Cerebral palsy of unknown origin and "no information" were frequent causes for home-cared children.
- Institutionalized children exhibited more severe intellectual disability, palsies, and daily living impairments, with significantly higher rates of gastric tube feeding, blended diets, epilepsy, and constipation.
- Past histories revealed high incidences of infectious diseases like measles, varicella, and mumps, with higher frequency in institutionalized cases.
Impact:
- Highlights differences in care needs and complications between institutionalized and home-cared severely disabled children.
- Informs public health strategies for managing disabilities and associated health issues.
- Underscores the importance of comprehensive medical history and timely interventions for disabled children.
Abstract:
We studied severity, causes of the disabilities, complications due to disabilities, and past histories of the severely mentally and physically disabled whose guardians or parents were residents in Gunma prefecture on September 1, 1991. This survey was made on severely disabled schoolboys and girls aged 6 to 15 years with IQ of 35 or less who could not stand or walk, even if they were supported. The number of them was 133 at the moment of this survey. Asphyxia at birth and congenital but unknown etiology were the major causes in the institutionalized cases, but cerebral palsy of unknown etiology and "no information" were frequent in the cases cared at home. The institutionalized patients showed severer mental retardations, palsies and disabilities on activities of daily lives, though not with statistically significant difference, and contained significantly larger number of cases fed by gastric tube or having meals as blended foods and significantly smaller number of cases having conventional meals than cases cared at home. Furthermore, epilepsies or constipations as complications were found more frequently in institutionalized cases than in cases cared at home with significant difference. On past history, relatively large numbers of the disabled suffered from various infectious diseases, especially from measles, varicella, mumps and pneumonia. Histories of measles, varicella and mumps showed higher frequency in institutionalized cases than in cases cared at home, though not with significant difference. On the cases cared at home, some of them did not have their home doctors, though in small numbers.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)