A COMPARISON OF THE VISUAL PERCEPTUAL SKILLS IN TYPICAL AND CEREBRAL PALSY CHILDREN

Objective: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the difference at occupational performance skills related to visual perception among typical developing children and cerebral palsy children by using measuring test of MVPT-R. Design And Sampling Technique: Quantitative cross-sectional study, convenience sampling method. Study Setting And Participants: A total of 400 Cerebral palsy children (all types) and typical children each from different mainstream schools, rehab centers, pediatric occupational therapy departments, and special education centers located in Karachi. Interventions / Data Collection: Test of visual perception that is Motor Free visual perceptual test- Revised MVPT-R. Result: Result shows difference in perceptual ages (PA) between typical and cerebral palsy children. Perceptual age (PA) was greater than the chronological age (CA) in the typical group. Conversely, in the CP group the perceptual age (PA) was lesser than the chronological age (CA). Conclusion:  Visual perception skills play a key role in a child’s achievement at school and at home. Children require intact visual perception for the successful performance of their daily living as well as academic tasks like good eye-hand coordination, handwriting, reading, shape perception, play skills, and copying patterns, etc. This study is helpful to identify those children who have visual perception issues and sorting this problem will form the baseline for better evaluating and planning of useful visual perception activities for typical and cerebral palsy children.

Investigating Mpm-Iii, Sofa and Delta Sofa Scoring Systems As Predictors of Mortality at a Tertiary Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Background: Despite major advances, management of critically ill patients worldwide is associated with high mortality rates. Assessment of disease severity is crucial in the analysis of ICU mortality. Although a variety of severity of illness scoring systems have been developed for this assessment and validated across Europe and the USA, few studies exist to show support of their utilization in African countries. There is conflicting evidence regarding the most reliable severity of illness scoring system suitable for resource limited countries as their mortality predictive values differ with different populations. SOFA is already in use at the AKUHN ICU and has easily attainable variables, while MPM-III is a simple, non-laboratory test dependent scoring system. Objectives: The primary objective of this study was to compare SOFA and MPM-III severity of illness scoring systems as predictors of mortality in critically ill adult patients admitted to the AKUHN ICU. Secondary objectives were to describe the clinical and demographic characteristics of patients admitted to the AKUHN ICU, to identify factors associated with increased risk of mortality in patients admitted to the AKUHN ICU, to compare MPM-III and delta SOFA scoring systems as predictors of mortality in critically ill adult patients admitted to the AKUHN ICU and to compare SOFA and delta SOFA scoring systems as predictors of mortality in critically ill adult patients admitted to the AKUHN ICU. Primary outcome: ICU mortality Study setting: AKUHN ICU. Study design: A retrospective cohort study. Sample size: Using a formula for determining statistical difference between two areas under receiver operating characteristic curves, a sample size of 543 was used. Study population: Critically ill adult patients admitted to the AKUHN ICU between January 2015 and September 2017. Data collection and entry: The ICU admission register was used to obtain the names and medical records of patients admitted during the study period. A comprehensive review of patients’ files and the AKUHN Electronic Medical Records System (CARE®) was then conducted to extract data as per the data collection tool. MPM-III scores were calculated using an online MPM-III scoring calculator. Data was entered into an MS Excel spreadsheet to form a database. STATA software version 14.2 was used for data analysis. Results: Male patients accounted for 60% of total admissions. The most common reason for admission was respiratory failure at 33%. Medical and surgical admissions constituted 61% and 39% of the total admissions respectively. Mortality rate was 32.4%. Median LOS was 4