Tew B J, Laurence K M
Dev Med Child Neurol Suppl. 1976(37):119-25. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8749.1976.tb04293.x.
Up to the age of nine years, 43 actively-treated cases of myelomeningocele had had an average stay of 28 weeks in hospital, one-fifth having spent between one and two years in hospital, and each child having had an average of six operations. After the age of two years there was a tendency to withhold surgery in more hopeless cases. The number of hospital admissions and surgical procedures declined appreciably after the children's admission to school. Girls spent longer periods in hospital than boys. Children with IQs of less than 80 spent twice as long in hospital compared with intellectually competitive children, probably because of the greater frequency of hydrocephalus and other physical handicaps. Admission to hospital in itself seemed to have little effect on intellectual status. Parents' comments showed that hospital admission held few fears for their children, except when orthopaedic procedures were involved. It is concluded that because of their familiarity with hospital, the emotional hazards associated with frequent admission to hospital seems to have little effect upon the behaviour of these children.
在9岁之前，43例接受积极治疗的脊髓脊膜膨出病例平均住院28周，五分之一的患儿住院时间为1至2年，每个孩子平均接受6次手术。两岁之后，对于一些预后较差的病例，倾向于不进行手术。孩子入学后，住院次数和手术数量明显减少。女孩住院时间比男孩长。智商低于80的儿童住院时间是智力正常儿童的两倍，这可能是因为脑积水和其他身体残疾的发生率更高。住院本身似乎对智力状况影响不大。家长的评论表明，住院对孩子来说并没有什么可怕的，除了涉及骨科手术的时候。研究得出结论，由于这些孩子对医院比较熟悉，频繁住院带来的情感风险似乎对他们的行为影响不大。
