Rohlman Diane S, Bodner Todd, Arcury Thomas A, Quandt Sara A, McCauley Linda
Center for Research on Occupational and Environmental Toxicology, CROET, L606, Oregon Health & Science University, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Road, Portland, OR 97239, USA.
Neurotoxicology. 2007 Mar;28(2):240-4. doi: 10.1016/j.neuro.2006.03.021. Epub 2006 Apr 25.
Many factors affect the growth and development of children, including chemicals in the environment. Children have greater exposure to toxicants than adults due to both behavior and their increased food: body-mass ratio. Furthermore, the developing brain and organ systems of infants and children and their immature metabolism also make them more vulnerable to environmental toxins. Children from all cultures and backgrounds are at risk. However, minorities may be at greatest risk. In order to evaluate the impact of environmental exposures on neurodevelopment it is necessary to have effective methods that will allow accurate conclusions to be drawn. We have developed a battery to assess neurobehavioral performance in non-English speaking Hispanic children ages 4 years and older. This paper will examine the associations between age and performance and present test-retest correlations. Two hundred and forty one Hispanic children between the ages of 4 and 9 years completed a neurobehavioral test battery twice, approximately 1 month apart. The battery consists of computerized tests from the Behavioral Assessment and Research System, tests selected from the Pediatric Environmental Neurobehavioral Test Battery, and the Object Memory Test. Multiple regression was used to examine the association between age, gender and mother's education on performance. All of the tests, except for Continuous Performance, showed that performance improved as the child gets older. Gender differences were found on several tests with females generally performing worse than males. Correlation coefficients on performance retest measures ranged from .51 to .88. This study has demonstrated the utility of using this test battery to assess cognitive and motor performance in non-English speaking Hispanic children. Tests in the battery assess a range of functions and the measures are sensitive to differences in ages. Test-retest correlations show the reliability of the battery. These support the use of this battery in both cross-sectional and longitudinal studies.
许多因素会影响儿童的生长发育，包括环境中的化学物质。由于行为特点以及食物摄入量与体重比增加，儿童比成年人接触到更多的有毒物质。此外，婴幼儿发育中的大脑和器官系统以及他们尚未成熟的新陈代谢，也使他们更容易受到环境毒素的影响。所有文化和背景的儿童都面临风险。然而，少数族裔可能面临的风险最大。为了评估环境暴露对神经发育的影响，有必要采用有效的方法，以便得出准确的结论。我们开发了一套测试组合，用于评估4岁及以上非英语裔西班牙儿童的神经行为表现。本文将研究年龄与表现之间的关联，并给出重测相关性。241名年龄在4至9岁之间的西班牙儿童完成了两次神经行为测试组合，两次测试间隔约1个月。该测试组合包括来自行为评估与研究系统的计算机化测试、从儿科环境神经行为测试组合中挑选的测试，以及物体记忆测试。采用多元回归分析年龄、性别和母亲教育程度与表现之间的关联。除持续操作测试外，所有测试均显示，随着儿童年龄增长，表现有所改善。在几项测试中发现了性别差异，女性的表现通常比男性差。表现重测指标的相关系数在0.51至0.88之间。这项研究证明了使用该测试组合评估非英语裔西班牙儿童认知和运动表现的效用。该测试组合中的测试评估了一系列功能，这些指标对年龄差异敏感。重测相关性表明了该测试组合的可靠性。这些结果支持在横断面研究和纵向研究中使用该测试组合。
