Material and methods: A randomised prospective study of 102 children (mean age 8.3 ± 3.5 years) with fractures involving upper or lower limbs. Children undergoing removal of cast were divided into 2 groups; either by an oscillating saw or a cast cutting shear. The level of anxiety was assessed by recording the heart rate with a portable fingertip pulse oximeter before, during and after removal of the cast. Objective assessment was performed by documenting the fear level on Children's Fear Scale (CFS).
Results: There was a significant increase in the heart rate of children during cast removal while using the oscillating saw compared to cast shear (p<0.05). The noise level produced by the saw exceeded 80 dB (mean 103.3 dB). The fear level was significantly lower in the cast shear group (p<0.05).
Conclusion: The noise produced by the oscillating saw was associated with an increased anxiety level in children undergoing cast removal. Cast shear is a simple and inexpensive instrument that can be used for cast removal in overly anxious children.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: A scoping review was conducted across four databases (PubMed, ScienceDirect, Scopus and Google Scholar). The included articles were written in English, published between January 2010 and June 2023, and specific to predefined keywords. Two independent reviewers screened and selected the final papers using the PRISMScR checklist. A code framework was created to extract information about the publications and conducted by one reviewer. The results were reported using descriptive statistics and narrative synthesis.
RESULTS: The final analysis were conducted on 22 articles out of 452 articles screened. The review identified seven outcome measures presented in various languages. The outcome measures found were the Auditory Behaviour in Everyday Life (ABEL), Functional Listening Index for Paediatric (FLI-P), Infant-Toddler Meaningful Auditory Integration Scale (IT-MAIS), Integrated Scales of Development (ISD), LittlEARS Auditory Questionnaire (LEAQ), Parent's Evaluation of Aural/Oral Performance in Children (PEACH), Parent's Evaluation of Aural/Oral Performance in Children Diary (PEACH Diary), Teachers' Evaluation of Aural/Oral Performance in Children (TEACH) and Parent's Evaluation of Aural/Oral Performance in Children Plus (PEACH+). A total of 13 studies focused on translating, adapting and validating an outcome measure while the remaining investigations validated either the translated or original version of the outcome measures. All original instruments were developed in English and among Western culture, except for the LEAQ which was designed in the German language and for the German population. The outcome measures identified were translated and adapted into Spanish, Turkish, Persian, Hebrew, Arabic, Malay, Yoruba, Polish, Swedish, Hindi, Portuguese, Kannada and Mandarin.
CONCLUSION: All studies performed an extensive evaluation of psychometric properties and feasibility studies to produce an excellent quality of auditory-related behaviour outcome measure for clinical use with the intended population. A new outcome measure, FLI-P, was found to be clinically useful for the primary provider of learning to listen and spoken language training for children with hearing impairment in Malaysia, i.e., the speech-language therapists.