Medical evaluation of internationally adopted children

Article Abstract:

In recent years, more and more children from other countries are adopted by people in the US; more than 8,000 such children enter the country each year from Asia, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Eastern Europe. No standard medical evaluations of these children are required prior to adoption, and studies of the incidence of disease among this population have yielded conflicting results. This study addressed the issue of illness in internationally adopted children by examining 293 children from Korea (41 percent), Central or South America (31 percent), India (18 percent), Haiti (7 percent), and other countries. The children (average age, 14 months) were examined by a pediatric nurse practitioner, a pediatric occupational therapist (to evaluate development), and a pediatrician. Results showed that 168 children (57 percent) had signs that indicated serious medical illness. In 81 percent of the cases, the diagnoses were not apparent from the child's history or physical examination, but only from the screening tests. Most illnesses (73 percent) were infectious diseases. Sixty-one children had signs of past or present infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV); 10 had positive results on the skin test for tuberculosis exposure; 38 had signs of parasites in their stool specimens; and 11 had cytomegalovirus in the urine. The next most common kind of illness was neurologic disease, which was detected in 13 percent of the children. This included global retardation, seizures, brain damage, and hearing loss. Twenty-seven children had two or more serious medical conditions. These results indicate that directed screening tests should be included in the medical examinations administered to these children, regardless of their country of origin. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Medical examination, Diseases

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The health of children adopted from Romania

Article Abstract:

American families who wish to adopt Romanian orphans should be aware that these children suffer from many physical, psychological and emotional disorders because of their prolonged stay in orphanages. Researchers who visited these orphanages after the fall of the Ceausescu regime found children living in appalling conditions with little human contact. A study of 65 Romanian children adopted by American families found that only 15% were physically and developmentally normal. Evidence of past or present hepatitis B infection was present in over half. One-third had intestinal parasites, most commonly Giardia. None were HIV-positive. In many, height, weight and head size had been compromised as a result of malnutrition. These children were most likely adopted because they were the most healthy children observed. Indeed, none had been found in the asylums for 'incurables'.

Planning, Romania, Orphans, Romanians

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Health of children adopted from the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe: comparison with preadoptive medical records

Article Abstract:

Children from the former Soviet Union and other Eastern European countries who are adopted by Americans may experience developmental delays that require special rehabilitation programs. Fifty-six adopted children were evaluated in two adoption clinics. Medical records were available for 47 and in 91% of these cases, the children had been diagnosed with an unfamiliar neurologic diagnosis. Many of these problems could not be confirmed and only 20% of the 56 children had a serious medical condition. However, most had developmental delays in speaking, socializing and movement. All had been institutionalized prior to adoption.

Causes of, Child development, Child development deviations, Developmental disabilities, Institutional care, East Europeans

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