VALIDITY OF A NEW APPROACH TO THE DESIGN OF WAIS, WISC, AND WPPSI SHORT FORMS.

DATA FROM THE WAIS, WISC, AND WECHSLER PRESCHOOL AND PRIMARY SCALE OF INTELLIGENCE STANDARDIZATION SAMPLES WERE USED TO ASSESS THE VALIDITY OF SHORT FORMS THAT REDUCE THE NUMBER OF ITEMS WITHIN SUBTESTS, RATHER THAN THE NUMBER OF SUBTESTS. A STATISTICAL CORRECTION WAS MADE FOR THE BIAS INTRODUCED BY RESCORING THE ORIGINAL SCALES TO OBTAIN SCORES ON THE SHORT FORMS. THE NEW APPROACH APPEARS TO PROVIDE REASONABLY SATISFACTORY ESTIMATES OF VERBAL AND PERFORMANCE IQS, AS WELL AS OF FULL SCALE IQS. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

VALIDITY OF WPPSI SHORT FORMS.

CORRELATIONS WITH THE FULL SCALE OF ALL SHORT FORMS OF 2, 3, 4, AND 5 SUBTESTS WERE DETERMINED FROM WECHSLER PRESCHOOL AND PRIMARY SCALE OF INTELLIGENCE STANDARDIZATION DATA. THE 10 BEST SHORT FORMS OF EACH LENGTH WERE LISTED, AND INFORMATION WAS GIVEN ON THEIR STANDARD ERRORS OF ESTIMATE AND THEIR AGREEMENT WITH THE FULL SCALE IN CLASSIFYING SS. A METHOD THAT ENTAILS DIFFERENTIAL WEIGHTING OF SUBTEST SCORES, RATHER THAN SIMPLE SUMMATION, WAS CONSIDERED. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

VALIDITY OF WISC SHORT FORMS AT THREE AGE LEVELS.

CORRELATIONS WITH THE FULL SCALE OF ALL POSSIBLE SHORT FORMS OF 2, 3, 4, AND 5 SUBTESTS WERE DETERMINED FROM THE WISC STANDARDIZATION DATA AT 3 AGE LEVELS: 71/2, 101/2, AND 131/2 YR. THE 10 BEST SHORT FORMS OF EACH LENGTH AT EACH AGE LEVEL WERE CONSIDERED, AND INFORMATION WAS GIVEN ON THEIR STANDARD ERRORS OF ESTIMATE. A METHOD WHICH ENTAILS DIFFERENTIAL WEIGHTING OF SUBTEST SCORES RATHER THAN THEIR SIMPLE SUMMATION DID NOT RESULT IN APPRECIABLY HIGHER VALIDITIES. DATA WERE ALSO PROVIDED ON THE EXTENT OF AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE BEST SHORT FORMS AND THE FULL SCALE IN CLASSIFYING INDIVIDUALS. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Malnutrition‐inflammation‐coronary calcification in pediatric patients receiving chronic hemodialysis

Malnutrition, inflammation, and renal osteodystrophy parameters with resultant coronary calcification (CC) are associated with increased cardiovascular mortality in adults. Previous pediatric studies demonstrated CC in children but none assessed for an association between inflammation, malnutrition, renal osteodystrophy, and CC. To assess CC, ultrafast computerized tomogram was obtained for 16 pediatric patients (6 females; median age 17.2 years; range 9.1–21.2 years) receiving hemodialysis for ≥2 months. Inflammation was assessed by serum IL‐6, IL‐8, and C‐reactive protein levels on the day of the computerized tomogram scan; nutrition parameters included serum albumin, cholesterol, the body mass index standard deviation score, and normalized protein catabolic rate. Renal osteodystrophy parameters included time‐averaged serum calcium, phosphorus, total PTH, and calcitriol/calcium dose. Patients received hemodialysis thrice‐weekly; mean single pool Kt/V 1.48±0.13; and mean normalized protein catabolic rate 1.27±0.17 g/kg/day. Five of 16 patients had CC. Patients with CC were older (19.1±2.1 vs. 15.4±3.1 months; P=0.03), had longer dialysis vintage (49.4±15.3 vs. 17.2±10.5 months, P=0.0002), lower serum cholesterol (122±17.7 vs. 160.4±10.6 mg/dL, P=0.02), and higher phosphorus (9.05±1.2 vs. 6.1±0.96 mg/dL, P=0.0001). Mean serum albumin and normalized protein catabolic rate did not differ for patients with CC. All patients had elevated IL‐6 and IL‐8 levels compared with healthy norms; the mean IL‐6, IL‐8, and C‐reactive protein levels were not different in patients with CC. Coronary calcification was prevalent in older children receiving maintenance hemodialysis with a longer dialysis vintage. Worse renal osteodystrophy control and malnutrition (low cholesterol) may contribute to CC development.