Research alerts from HealthMatters Community Academic Partnership

Below are three research alerts: 1. These tests are easy to do and would help persons with disability, family members and health workers know when someone has an increased risk for falling, losing independence or even ending up in the hospital. Using them regularly might help health workers track when someone might need extra assistance to avoid injury, maintain independence and stay healthy. Click here.

2. Results show that children with developmental coordination disorder who undergo a three-month program of intensive Taekwondo training experience improvements in knee muscle strength and static single-leg standing balance control, but do not benefit from improved reactive balance control. With three months of daily Taekwondo practice, children with this condition can catch up to typically developing peers in terms of knee muscle strength and static single-leg standing balance performance. Click here.  

3. Two-thirds (~66%) of the individuals with autism had received psychotropic drugs during the study year. Majority of the individuals with autism were taking anti-psychotics (~39%) or/and CNS stimulants (~32%) followed by anti-depressants (20%), and others. The total cost for the psychotropic drugs paid for by the state Medicaid was ~$2 million during the study year. Adolescents and young adults (aged 11 to 21 years) were twice as likely to have prescription for psychotropic drug as compared to children (≤10 years old) with autism. Whites were more likely to have a prescription for psychotropic drugs than blacks. Click here.

HealthMatters Alerts: www.HealthMattersProgram.org