Sistema Regional de Información
en línea para Revistas Científicas de América Latina,
el Caribe, España y Portugal

Numerous studies point to the spoken language difficulties that people with hearing impairment may have throughout their development. However, little is known about the level of pragmatic competence they achieve and how this area develops (Madrid Cánovas & Bleda García, 2011). This research aims to address the pragmatic characteristics of four Spanish adults with congenital hearing impairment through the Quick Pragmatic Assessment Protocol-Revised (QPAP-R), which assesses different levels of pragmatics: textual, enunciative and interactional, and also provides an index of general, specific and grammatically based pragmatic ability. The participants were assessed by videotaping spontaneous speech samples in conversation with a family member. The results indicate that, in general, the four subjects present a good level of pragmatic competence, which is manifested when adjusting speech acts. Nevertheless, in order to regulate their language, they tend to use compensatory behaviors such as: verbal strategies that allow them to gain extra time for the construction of their utterances, use of compensatory verbal and/or paraverbal acts, and the use of gestures that complete their verbal production. These data indicate that, although the participants of this study present good pragmatic skills, it is necessary to continue developing strategies at the intervention level that allow them the to communicate without difficulties in different contexts and with different interlocutors.

Confinement as a sanitary measure due to the COVID-19 has forced the adoption of the virtual modality in school systems around the world. Speech pathologists who work with preschool children with language disorders have had to modify their usual work methodology to achieve therapeutic and educational aims of the intervention plans they apply This research sought to describe the perception that speech-language pathologists have about the experience of performing telerehabilitation for preschool children with language development disorders in the context of a pandemic. A qualitative study was designed, with a phenomenological approach. The sample of 10 speech therapists, recruited for convenience, underwent semi-structured interviews. The phenomenological analysis of the data obtained was carried out bymanually obtaining subcodes, codes and categories. The following thematic categories emerge from the analysis: evaluation of the experience, effectiveness of the virtual intervention, preparation of the sessions and participation of the parents. The experiences exposed in the interviews carried out allow us to point out critical elements related to the improvised and sudden change of modality, the lack of training and/or preparation of the therapists to implement telepractice, the administration of resources and the sensation of inefectivity of the intervention. Although virtual interventions have been established as an alternative to face-to-face intervention, it is concluded that this was not widely accepted among the speech therapists interviewed, considering it demanding and ineffective for such young children. It is emphasized that the commitment of parents and/or caregivers is essential to achieve a successful process.

The present study aimed to linguistically and culturally adapt the North American vocal self-assessment questionnaire, Voice Handicap Index (VHI), to Chilean Spanish. To this end, four direct translations of the VHI were carried out independently into Chilean Spanish. Subsequently, a general translation (GT) was agreed upon based on the judgment of three speech-language therapists. This GT was back-translated into the original language and compared with the original version by the same group of speech therapy professionals, which resulted in the first version of the Chilean Índice de Desventaja Vocal [Vocal Disadvantage Index] (IDV-Cl). This version was then applied to twenty people diagnosed with dysphonia, using a Likert scale for frequency. During the adaptation, it was deemed pertinent to make a note of the statements that were not understood or were culturally inappropriate for the Chilean vocabulary. The instrument was revised and modified based on the observations made by the participants, thus creating a second version of the IDV-Cl, which was then applied to six people diagnosed with dysphonia. No new suggestions for change were made at this stage. The IDV-Cl reflects the original version in English, both in the number of items and in the physical, functional, and emotional subcomponents that comprise it. Through the synthesis of this survey, it was also possible to obtain an abbreviated version, consisting of ten items (IDV-Cl-10). In conclusion, the cultural and linguistic equivalence of the VHI questionnaire in Chilean Spanish is established, resulting in the IDV-Cl and IDV-Cl-10 versions of this instrument.

Studies show that an important number of children born preterm (before 37 weeks of gestation) present difficulties in their development, including language development. Studies indicate that some biomedical complications such as intraventricular hemorrhage (grades III and IV), periventricular leukomalacia, and bronchopulmonary dysplasia increase the probability of presenting alterations in cognition and/or language development, and thus there is a need for studies which provide more information that allows anticipating possible consequences in the learning process of children born prematurely. Therefore, the aims of this study were to measure the early vocabulary size in very preterm and extremely preterm children (with and without biomedical complications) at 24 months of corrected age, and to determine the association between the number of biomedical complications and vocabulary size. To that effect, we worked with 108 children divided into three groups: 39 high-risk preterm children (with biomedical complications), 36 low-risk preterm children (without biomedical complications associated with alterations in language and/or cognition), and 33 full term children. All children were evaluated with the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory II. Our results show that full term children have a significantly larger vocabulary size than preterm children, and that no differences exist between the results of high-risk versus low-risk preterm children. On the other hand, vocabulary size does not correlate with biomedical complications.

Due to the vocal load to which voice professionals, such as teachers, are exposed, voice disorders and vocal misuse are frequent in this group, which makes it necessary to have quick and simple research instruments for an early diagnosis of vocal symptoms. The objective of this study is to carry out an adaptation and preliminary validation of the guideline "Vocal Tract Discomfort Scale (VTD)" to Chilean Spanish in teachers. The Spanish translation of the original instrument by two native experts and then the back-translation by two experts in English to determine concordances and discrepancies was first obtained. Then, the validation of appearance and content was carried out by a group of experts made up of two methodologists and five speech therapists with experience in the vocal area. Criterion validity was obtained through the correlation between the scale under study and the Voice Handicap Index in its validated version in Spanish as a gold-standard test, for which it was applied to a sample of 31 teachers. The validation of the VTD scale is reliable and provides speech therapists with a simple and understandable tool for understanding the impact generated in people with dysphonia, particularly in voice professionals such as teachers.

External auditory canal exostosis (ECAE), also known as surfer's ear, is an alteration of the bone tissue of the external ear, mainly caused due to overexposure to cold. Considering that those who practice water sports such as surfing and bodyboarding on the Pacific coast are exposed to waters with temperatures between 12-16 °C,. We seek to determine, in this study, the prevalence and degree of ECAE in surfers and bodyboarders from the coast of the south of Pacific Ocean, Reñaca and Concón, during the year 2018. An evaluation of the ECAE was carried out by means of video-otoscopy in 67 people (134 ears) who practiced surfing and bodyboarding from the beaches of Reñaca and Concón, and a questionnaire was used to collect information about their practice habits. As a result, a prevalence of ECAE of 77.6% was observed, with 61.2% bilateral ECAE and 16.4% unilateral ECAE. It was also possible to determine that 62.3% of the participants do not use protections. Based on these findings, it is possible to conclude that there is a high prevalence of ECAE in surfers and bodyboarders on the central Chilean coasts, which should alert both the practicing population and hearing health professionals to promote a healthy life in this population.

Aphasia as a sequela of stroke is an understudied language disorder in adolescents, both in Latin America and worldwide. Although a significant number of aphasia cases improve spontaneously, it is necessary to initiate treatment as soon as possible. This cases series describes the clinical presentation and evolution of aphasia in 3 adolescents with stroke sequelae who were admitted to a neurorehabilitation facility. Two females and one male, aged between 15 and 17 years, received intensive comprehensive rehabilitation from the areas of physiotherapy, occupational therapy, neuropsychology, psychopedagogy, music therapy and speech therapy. They were evaluated with the Chilean version of the Western Aphasia Battery (WAB). After 3 months, all of them improved and evolved to a milder type of aphasia. This study shows the importance of early, intensive treatment in adolescents who are in the height of their social development, where language alteration impacts on their bonds, their groups of belonging, their mood and their academic process. Systematic assessment and follow-up are considered essential to identify the changes and progress achieved during rehabilitation.

Background: Mining companies must implement management systems dedicated to health and safety at work to prevent the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 among their workers, however, the literature on this is scarce.Aim: To describe a multimodal strategy for the management of health and safety at work, to address the risk of infections by SARS-CoV-2 in large mining.Methods: Descriptive cross-sectional study, carried out in a large mining company. A management system was structured that considered administrative measures, of an environmental nature, risk screening, and management of risk cases within the company. The data analysis was done using descriptive statistics.Results: The administrative measures resulted in 8,116 (34%) workers at the site being suspended from their usual work. Risk screening before entering the site identified 450 suspected cases that were referred to their home. In the case management procedure, 1,073 people were classified in some of the risk groups. 10 cases of workers with PCR were detected in the follow-up period. Environmental measures were not very sensitive.Conclusions: These results shed light on the importance of implementing a multimodal strategy, adapted to the local reality, in preventing the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in the period under study, at the mining site intervened.

Background: In Paraguay there has been a gradual and voluntary return to classes in a blended mode. Aim: To estimate the anti-SARS-CoV2 seroprevalence in schoolchildren and teachers.Methods: Cross-sectional descriptive study, carried out between October 25 and November 5, 2021. Structured surveys were applied to schoolchildren and teachers from five schools, two in Asunción and three in the Central Department. In addition, samples of fingerstick blood for antibody detection by rapid immunochromatographic test were obtained.Results: A total of 148 teachers and 966 schoolchildren were included, 12.4% of the schoolchildren had received the anti-COVID-19 vaccine, which represents 61.9% of the students qualified for vaccination. Among the teachers, 97.3% received the COVID-19 vaccine, 95.9% had the complete schedule, 34.5% of teachers and 3.9% of schoolchildren reported having had COVID-19. The seroprevalence with no vaccine status discrimination was 37.7% in schoolchildren and 91.9% in teachers. In unvaccinated schoolchildren, seroprevalence was 30.9% and in unvaccinated teachers 25.0%.Conclusions: The high anti-SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence reflects an important viral circulation in the community. Almost the entire teaching staff had the complete vaccination schedule, and more than half of the qualified students had received at least a dose. The high seropositivity in vaccinated is highlighted. It is recommended to continue with the preventive non-pharmacological measures and vaccination.