Educational progress, behaviour, and motor skills at 10 years in early treated congenital hypothyroidism

Simons, WF; Fuggle, PW; Grant, DB; Smith, I

HERO ID

9924988

Reference Type

Journal Article

Year

1997

Language

English

PMID

9370899

HERO ID 9924988
In Press No
Year 1997
Title Educational progress, behaviour, and motor skills at 10 years in early treated congenital hypothyroidism
Authors Simons, WF; Fuggle, PW; Grant, DB; Smith, I
Journal Archives of Disease in Childhood
Volume 77
Issue 3
Page Numbers 219-222
Abstract <strong>AIM: </strong>To assess educational attainments, behaviour, and motor skills at 10 years of age in a group of children with congenital hypothyroidism identified by neonatal screening.<br /><br /><strong>SUBJECTS: </strong>59 children with congenital hypothyroidism born in 1978-81, 31 cases with pretreatment thyroxine (T4) values of 40 nmol/l or below (group I) and 28 less severe cases with T4 values over 40 nmol/l (group II), together with 59 classroom control children matched for age, sex, social class, and main language spoken at home.<br /><br /><strong>METHODS: </strong>The Neale analysis of reading ability; the child health and education study written test of mathematics; Rutter behaviour questionnaires for parents and teachers; the Oseretsky test of motor proficiency (short form).<br /><br /><strong>RESULTS: </strong>On all measures the congenital hypothyroidism children in group I had less satisfactory scores for educational attainments, behaviour, and motor skills than those in group II and controls. For reading the differences were small and did not reach statistical significance, but the deficits in mathematics and total motor skills were statistically significant (p < 0.01). There were more striking and statistically significant differences in behaviour scores, particularly with respect to attentional difficulties. Although less striking, these were also apparent in the group II children with mild hypothyroidism.<br /><br /><strong>CONCLUSIONS: </strong>At the age of 10 years severe congenital hypothyroidism is associated with some mild impairment in educational and motor attainments. Behaviour problems are also common, even in some children with less severe congenital hypothyroidism.
Doi 10.1136/adc.77.3.219
Pmid 9370899
Is Certified Translation No
Dupe Override No
Is Public Yes
Language Text English