/library/oar/handle/123456789/15048 Thu, 25 Jun 2026 10:47:01 GMT 2026-06-25T10:47:01Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/15149 Title: Risk factors for self-harm in children and adolescents admitted to a psychiatric hospital in Malta Authors: Axiak, Sally; Grech, Anton Abstract: The aim of this research was to identify risk factors for self-harm amongst the total population of children and adolescents admitted to an in-patient psychiatric hospital over a five-year period. A retrospective audit of patient records (N = 212) covering 2010 to 2014 (both years included) showed that approximately 38% of all children and adolescents who were in-patients at the psychiatric hospital during the study period harmed themselves prior to admission. Male gender was found to be associated with self-harm. Results also suggested that family factors, specifically living with a single parent, significantly added to the risk of self-harm amongst the study population. Although the findings revealed that being male and hailing from a single-parent family are significant risk factors for self-harm in Maltese children and adolescents, this study did not establish why this is the case, therefore suggesting the need for further research. A prospective, longitudinal design would assess predictors of self-harm more clearly. Furthermore, self-reports would increase accuracy and reduce third-party reporter bias, while permitting more indepth exploration of the risk factors involved in child and adolescent deliberate self-harm. Fri, 01 Jan 2016 00:00:00 GMT /library/oar/handle/123456789/15149 2016-01-01T00:00:00Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/15147 Title: Auditory and language processing skills in Maltese children : a comparative study Authors: Tabone, Nadine; Vassallo, Melissa; Magri, Charlene; Grech, Helen; Gatt, Daniela; Bamiou, Doris-Eva Abstract: Auditory processing disorder is described as a mixture of unrefined listening skills which, despite normal hearing, causes poor speech perception. These difficulties have also been reported in children with a diagnosis of language impairment (LI), literacy difficulties (LD)1, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The purpose of this study is to describe and compare the listening performance of typically developing (TD) children with those diagnosed with LI, LD, and ADHD on an assessment battery of auditory processing (AP) and language processing (LP). One hundred and one TD children and 53 children with a clinical diagnosis were assessed using four subtests of AP presenting linguistic stimuli, three AP subtests with non-linguistic stimuli and an assessment of LP. Parents of all children were required to fill in a questionnaire related to their listening difficulties. Parental report for the TD group on average yielded the lowest score, indicating fewer difficulties with listening skills in the TD group. The listening difficulties exhibited in the Maltese participants diagnosed with LI, LD and ADHD were mainly specific to the AP subtests using linguistic stimuli. The LI and LD groups generally performed significantly worse than the TD group on all AP subtests using linguistic stimuli, while the ADHD group performed significantly worse than the TD group on some of these tests. The same pattern did not emerge for the subtests using non-linguistic stimuli. Few significant effects between groups were evident. The LI groups were found to perform the weakest in all tests of language processing. Fri, 01 Jan 2016 00:00:00 GMT /library/oar/handle/123456789/15147 2016-01-01T00:00:00Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/15146 Title: Faecal immunochemical screening tests for colorectal cancer : a single-centre study from the Czech Republic Authors: Pospichal, Jan; Blanar, Vit Abstract: The goal of this study is to describe the temporary state of faecal occult blood screening in the Czech Republic. Qualitative and quantitative methods of faecal immunochemical testing for haemoglobin were compared and evaluated retrospectively for a period of four years. Screening was actively offered to asymptomatic individuals within their preventive check-ups, starting at the age of 50. Two types of faecal immunochemical tests were used for screening: a qualitative and a quantitative method. Any positive tests detected during screening were followed up by a total colonoscopy. The research sample contained 454 persons; 191 individuals (42.07%) were tested using the qualitative method and 263 individuals (57.83%) were tested through the quantitative method. The qualitative test’s specificity for our sample was 75.84%. Better results were yielded by the quantitative test, where the specificity of the sample reached 94.69%. The latter represented an improvement in faecal occult blood test (FOBT) screening in the Czech Republic that can result in more frequent detection of the disease and a lower mortality rate. Occult blood test screening is ideal for the successful prevention of colorectal cancer (CRC) developing from polyps. Fri, 01 Jan 2016 00:00:00 GMT /library/oar/handle/123456789/15146 2016-01-01T00:00:00Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/15139 Title: Improving science and health communication for the Maltese Islands Authors: Duca, Edward Abstract: Society faces many challenges worldwide. Decades of science popularisation or health campaigns have not managed to significantly increase science literacy or produce enough Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) graduates with the right skills; ineffective alternative medicines are now a multi-billion dollar industry while unhealthy diets coupled with a sedentary lifestyle are leading to an increase in obesity, diabetes, cancer and other problems. This commentary gives a generic overview of science and health communication, outlining some of the latest ideas designed to introduce the concepts of dialogue, public engagement, and responsible research and innovation into these fields for more effective approaches. It also suggests that communication campaigns need to be evaluated to assess their effectiveness, and discusses how research funding applications can be improved by involving communication practitioners. In addition, it recommends that Malta needs to create a coordinated public engagement strategy to maximise resources. Fri, 01 Jan 2016 00:00:00 GMT /library/oar/handle/123456789/15139 2016-01-01T00:00:00Z