| 1. |
- Degerstedt, Frida, 1974-
(författare)
-
Equity among children and youth with cerebral palsy : physical leisure activity, physical education, physiotherapy and quality of life
- 2023
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Background & aim: Cerebral palsy (CP) is the most common reason for movement difficulties among children and youth in Sweden. Physiotherapy is usually introduced early in order to develop mobility and prevent further impairment, which in turn facilitates activity and participation. Physiotherapy is closely connected with physical activity, both as a goal and a mean, and physical activity contributes to aspects of health, in turn associated with quality of life (QoL). Physical education in school as well as physical leisure activity are important parts of the total physical activity participation among children and youth. Participation in physical leisure activity and physical education, as well as access to physiotherapeutic interventions, is insufficiently explored from an equity perspective regarding function, gender and ethnicity or birth country. The overall aim of the current thesis is to explore participation in physiotherapeutic interventions, physical leisure activity and physical education, as well as analyze the association between physical activity and quality of life, from an equity perspective for children and adolescents with CP in Sweden.Methods: The four papers that comprise this thesis are based upon three empirical studies: a National cross-sectional registry study (Papers I and II), based on the National Quality Registry Cerebral Palsy Follow-up Program (CPUP); an interview study with a qualitative approach (Paper III); and a national QoL survey complemented with registry data (IV). Quantitative data were analyzed with multivariable logistic-, linear- or quantile regressions. For the interview study, qualitative content analysis was used.Results: The number of participants in the registry studies were 2855 aged 0-18 years (Paper I) and 1935 aged 6-18 years (Paper II). The interview study (Paper III) included 11 participants aged 15-18 years, and the survey study (Paper IV) 149 participants, aged 15-18 years. Being born in Sweden entailed higher odds for participating in physiotherapy, physical leisure activity, physical education and physiotherapy, respectively, compared to those born outside Sweden (Paper I) or outside Europe (Paper II). More severe gross motor function difficulties were positively associated with higher odds of receiving physiotherapy, and negatively associated with physical activity participation (Paper II). Participants in the interviews report several examples of exclusion, struggles and (in-) sufficient support and inclusion through the categories ‘Exclusion and lack of support’, ‘Resistance, struggle and guilt’, and ‘Empowerment and support’. Gender as a vector in physical activity is mainly seen through the qualitative results, referring to physical education (Paper III). Frequent participation in physical leisure activity was associated with the domain Communication and physical health. Domains of QoL that referred to participation or function were negatively associated with having greater motor function difficulties, although not significantly associated with domains of social- and school wellbeing. Pain and bother is negatively associated with all five domains of QoL. Low educational level among the caregivers was associated with higher QoL-scores in the domain of social well-being (Paper IV).Discussion & Conclusions: The results that reveals differences regarding birth country indicates the relevance to raise awareness about possible inequity in participation in physical leisure activity, physical education, and physiotherapy for children and youth who have CP, as a prerequisite for improvement. Physiotherapists, school, and leisure sport leaders, as well as their organizations, need to be attentive to norms and bias in order to prevent inequity and discrimination due to for example birth country, gender or function, and provide support, which is included in the compensatory assignment of the schools and health care. This is emphasized by the experiences of exclusion expressed by participating youth with CP. Frequent physical activity participation is in part associated with higher QoL while Pain and bother is negatively associated with QoL, as is partly gross motor function difficulties. Prevention and treatment of pain and facilitation of physical activity is therefore important for children and youth with CP. Future studies should carefully consider targeting youth with a non-Nordic birth country and with large gross motor function difficulties or associated difficulties to widen knowledge about equity in physical activity- and physiotherapy participation, and QoL.
|
|
| 2. |
|
|
| 3. |
- Degerstedt, Frida, et al.
(författare)
-
Inequity in physiotherapeutic interventions for children with Cerebral Palsy in Sweden - a national registry study
- 2020
-
Ingår i: Acta Paediatrica. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0803-5253 .- 1651-2227. ; 109:4, s. 774-782
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- AIM: The aim of this study was to investigate the distribution of physiotherapeutic interventions for children with Cerebral Palsy in Sweden from an equity perspective, considering sex, country of birth and geographical region.METHOD: This national cross-sectional registry study includes children with Cerebral Palsy aged 0-18 years who participated in 2015 in the Swedish national quality registry, the Cerebral Palsy follow-up program, CPUP. Comparisons and associations between physiotherapeutic interventions and sex, country of birth and geographical regions were conducted using Chi2 and logistic regression analysis, controlling for cognitive level, level of motor function, age group and dominating symptom.RESULTS: Of the 2855 participants, 2201 (79%) had received physiotherapy. Children born in Sweden had 1.60 times higher odds (95% CI 1.10-2.33) of receiving physiotherapy compared with children born in foreign countries. Distribution of physiotherapeutic interventions differed significantly between geographical regions. No associations between sex and physiotherapeutic interventions were observed.CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicate inequity in care in Sweden towards children with Cerebral Palsy born in other counties. Further, physiotherapeutic interventions were not equally distributed in different.
|
|
| 4. |
|
|
| 5. |
- Degerstedt, Frida, et al.
(författare)
-
Physiotherapeutic interventions and physical activity for children in Northern Sweden with cerebral palsy : a register study from equity and gender perspectives
- 2017
-
Ingår i: Global Health Action. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1654-9716 .- 1654-9880. ; 10
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Young people with disabilities, especially physical disabilities, report worse health than others. This may be because of the disability, lower levels of physical activity, and discrimination. For children with cerebral palsy, access to physiotherapy and physical activity is a crucial prerequisite for good health and function. To date, there is limited knowledge regarding potential gender bias and inequity in habilitation services.Objectives: To map how physiotherapeutic interventions (PTI), physical leisure activity, and physical education are allocated for children with cerebral palsy regarding sex, age, level of gross motor function, and county council affiliation. This was done from a gender and equity perspective.Methods: A register study using data from the Cerebral Palsy follow-Up Program (CPUP). Data included 313 children ≤18 years with cerebral palsy from the five northern counties in Sweden during 2013. Motor impairment of the children was classified according to the expanded and revised Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS).Results: In three county councils, boys received more physiotherapy interventions and received them more frequently than girls did. Differences between county councils were seen for frequency and reasons for physiotherapy interventions (p < 0.001). The physiotherapist was involved more often with children who had lower motor function and with children who had low physical leisure activity. Children with lower motor function level participated in physical leisure activity less often than children with less motor impairment (p < 0.001). Boys participated more frequently in physical education than did girls (p = 0.028).Conclusion: Gender and county council affiliation affect the distribution of physiotherapy interventions for children with cerebral palsy, and there are associations between gender and physical activity. Thus, the intervention is not always determined by the needs of the child or the degree of impairment. A gender-bias is indicated. Further studies are needed to ensure fair interventions.
|
|
| 6. |
- Degerstedt, Frida, et al.
(författare)
-
Unequal physical activity among children with cerebral palsy in Sweden : A national registry study
- 2021
-
Ingår i: Health Science Reports. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 2398-8835. ; 4:3
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aim: To examine the extent to which sex, country of birth, and functional aspects influence participation in physical education and physical leisure activity among children with cerebral palsy (CP) in Sweden.Methods: This national cross-sectional registry study included children with CP aged 6 to 18 years who participated in the Swedish national quality registry, the Cerebral Palsy Follow-up Program, CPUP, in 2015. Comparisons and associations between sex, country of birth, and functional aspects and physical leisure/physical education were examined using chi-squared and multivariable logistic regression analysis.Results: The study included 1935 children. Of them, 1625 (87%) reported participating in physical education and 989 (53%) reported participating in physical leisure activity. Children born in Sweden had higher odds of participating in physical education (OR: 1.99; 95% CI: 1.20-3.28) and physical leisure activity (OR: 2.51; 95% CI: 1.70-3.72) compared with children born outside Europe. Greater impairment of gross motor function was associated with lower participation levels. Boys participated slightly more frequently in leisure activities than girls.Conclusion: Enhancing social inclusion with regard to disability, birth country, and sex are important and achievable goals for policymakers and practitioners for promoting participation in physical activity for children and adolescents with CP.
|
|
| 7. |
- Jönsson, Arne, 1955-, et al.
(författare)
-
Experiences from combining dialogue system development with information extraction techniques
- 2004
-
Ingår i: New directions in question answering. - Boston : AAAI Press. - 0262633043 ; , s. 153-168
-
Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Next generation question answering systems are challenged on many fronts including but not limited to massive, heterogeneous and sometimes streaming collections, diverse and challenging users, and the need to be sensitive to context, ambiguity, and even deception. This chapter describes new directions in question answering (QA) including enhanced question processing, source selection, document retrieval, answer determination, and answer presentation generation. We consider important directions such as answering questions in context (e.g., previous queries, day or time, the data, the task, location of the interactive device), scenario based QA, event and temporal QA, spatial QA, opinionoid QA, multimodal QA, multilingual QA, user centered and collaborative QA, explanation, interactive QA, QA reuse, and novel architectures for QA. The chapter concludes by outlining a roadmap of the future of question answering, articulating necessary resources for, impediments to, and planned or possible future capabilities.
|
|
| 8. |
|
|
