Research on emotional monitoring in children with severe motor and intellectual disabilities

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Children with severe motor and intellectual disabilities have a difficult time expressing emotions; therefore, emotional changes are predominantly assessed subjectively, based on the experiences and observations of people around them. In the present study, the emotional changes in children with severe motor and intellectual disabilities were assessed by quantifying levels of alpha-amylase, a salivary digestive enzyme. The study was designed to clarify the following two points: 1) the relationship of salivary amylase to distress caused by medical procedures, and its significance; and 2) the possibility of using salivary amylase as a parameter for assessing the effects of education and therapy in children with severe motor and intellectual disabilities. The results showed that among children with severe motor and intellectual disabilities the activity of salivary amylase strongly reflected the degree of distress caused by medical procedures. Furthermore, the activity of salivary amylase … More was markedly affected by the activity of the sympathetic nervous system. Snoezelen is one of the treatments that aim to relax children with severe motor and intellectual disabilities, and objective assessments of eustress (comfortable stress) proved that the activity of salivary amylase reflected the level of eustress. Lastly, the effects of educational interventional measures were assessed in children with grave motor and intellectual disabilities in whom emotional changes and body movements are difficult to assess due to extremely severe disabilities, and educational interventions caused significant real time changes in the activity of salivary amylase.The results of the present study suggest that salivary amylase may be a useful biomarker for estimating the psychological status of children with severe motor and intellectual disabilities. In addition, the portable test strip salivary amylase activity monitor was a superior technique for assessing the psychological status of children with severe motor and intellectual disabilities. The results of the present study have been reported in two English papers and two Japanese papers and at nine domestic and one overseas academic conventions. These findings suggest that salivary amylase analysis is useful in research on children with severe motor and intellectual disabilities and should contribute to improving their QOL. Less