BackgroundDyslexia, a specific learning difficulty and a disability as defined in the Equality Act 2010, is a lifelong condition that affects a child from the start of education. Dyslexia is characterized by difficulties in language processing (reading, spelling, and writing) which do not correspond with the child’s general intellectual abilities. Although dyslexia cannot be cured, there is a consensus that interventions are more effective and have greater impact the earlier they are administered. Effective interventions start with diagnosis. Currently, formal diagnosis requires an assessment by a dyslexia specialist or educational psychologist. These assessments are expensive and are not easy for a non-specialist teacher or parent to interpret. Consequently, formal assessments are normally performed at a much later age, when interventions are less likely to be effective. Combining the latest in scientific research, expertise of dyslexia practitioners and real-time interactivity facilitated by digital technologies, we aim to provide a cost-effective and convenient solution that focuses on early dyslexia detection and management.ObjectiveWe discuss the rationale and protocol for the design and development of a digital health solution aimed at improving the early detection, monitoring and management of dyslexia (DIMMAND) in young children (4-8 years). The primary objective is to create a game-based digital solution aimed at children, parents, and teachers that firstly assesses, then monitors and manages progress in a convenient, cost-effective and private environment.MethodsThe proposed solution will be designed and developed in phases. In the initial phase, the full functional specification of the games that constitute the app will be designed, together with the overall architecture of the solution. Prototype proof-of-concept implementation for few of these games, and commercialization strategies will also be developed. The follow-on phases will see the design implemented into a validated solution.ResultsIn the initial phase, we worked closely with dyslexia specialists, adult dyslexics, teachers of special-needs children, parents of dyslexic children, and senior dyslexia representatives for large organizations. These interactions provided insights into the range of language difficulties faced by dyslexics, which solutions are used by teachers and professionals, and an overall understanding of the market. We comprehensively defined the ethical, privacy, and data security issues. The detailed design spec of the games, the methodology to be followed to interpret the results, and flow diagrams illustrating how the game screens will be presented was completed. As proof of concept, a few reading, visual, and auditory games were developed and successfully tested by stakeholders on different digital devices. The stakeholders provided regular feedback and confirmed the viability of our game-based solution.ConclusionsDIMMAND has the potential to provide significant positive health care and economic impact. It is expected to...

Background: Unhealthy alcohol use is a public health issue, prioritized by the World Health Organization (WHO) for prevention and reduction. Ukraine falls in the highest WHO category of "years of life lost" due to alcohol use. Objective: To investigate perceptions of alcohol consumption in a sample of youth and adults in western Ukraine. Methods: In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 38 adult stakeholders (aged 21-63 years), and 81 adolescents and young adults (aged 12-21 years) completed paper-and-pencil open-ended questions. A combined deductive-inductive thematic analysis of these qualitative data resulted in an initial coding scheme for both parts of the data. These initial codes were organized into patterns, which were further condensed to four themes. Results: The four themes that were developed are: (1) The general historical, socioeconomic political situation and its relation to alcohol use, (2) Alcohol in the home and daily environment, (3) Alcohol use, related feelings, peers, family, and burden to health, and (4) Perceptions of the consequences of alcohol (mis)use. Conclusions: Respondents indicated awareness that daily consumption, also in youth, as well as binge drinking and childhood sipping constitute a risk to health. These risks were described in the context of easy availability, low pricing, and peer pressure. The respondents mentioned awareness that alcohol dependence (AD) of parents affected families with the risk of disadvantageous child development. Interventions may include targeting current norms, stigmatizing beliefs and supporting subjects in developing coping skills.

Measuring visual matching and short-term recognition memory with the CANTAB® Delayed Matching to Sample task in schoolchildren: Effects of demographic influences, multiple outcome measures and regression-based normative data, Child

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The study aims to establish demographically corrected norms for three computerized tasks measuring different aspects of visual short-term memory (VSTM) in Ukrainian schoolchildren. These tasks measure respectively visual STM (the Pattern Recognition Memory (PRM) test), spatial STM (the Spatial Span (SSP) task), and visual spatial STM (the Paired Associates Learning (PAL) task). All tasks were administered to n = 186 children aged 5.10 years to 14.5 years old to evaluate the influence of demographic variables. Relevant demographic factors that influence task scores (VSTM), i.e., age and level of parental education, are identified and in keeping with the current literature. No sex differences were found. Based on these data, regression-based, demographically corrected norms were established per task. This approach to constructing norms differs from how (worldwide) PRM, SSP, and/or PAL norms have been constructed traditionally. In the latter approach, norms are calculated for each age group separately and without correcting for level of parental education, whereas in the regression-based normative method, multiple regression models are used to compute the expected test scores of an individual (rather than the subgroup means that are used in the traditional approach). Consequently, the regression-based norms for the PRM, SSP, and PAL presented in this paper are individualized, taking into account the unique characteristics of the individual that is tested on these tasks. Last, the confidence intervals of the PRM scores of the Ukrainian schoolchildren and the western norm group largely overlapped, except for the youngest age group, which adds to the literature about cultural effects on cognition.