ESPE Abstracts (2015) 84 P-2-575

ESPE2015 Poster Category 2 Thyroid (30 abstracts)

Attention Deficit and Sluggish Cognitive Tempo Symptoms in Congenital Hypothyroidism: Results from a Case-Control Study

Annalisa Esposito a , Ida D’Acunzo a , Raffaella Di Mase a , Ennio Del Giudice a , Mateu Servera b & Mariacarolina Salerno a


aDepartment of Translational Medicine (Section of Pediatrics), Federico II University, Naples, Italy; bDepartment of Psychology, Baleares Islands University, Palma, Spain


Background: Despite neonatal screening, children with congenital hypothyroidism (CH) may still display behavioural problems such as inattention, distractibility, hyperactivity and restlessness.

Objective and hypotheses: The aim of present study was to evaluate attention and sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT) symptoms in 32 children with CH compared to 32 matched healthy controls.

Method: The study population consisted of 32 CH children aged 9–14 years. CH children were diagnosed by neonatal screening and treated at a mean age of 19.34±4.5 days with mean starting Levothyroxine (LT4) dose of 11.8±1.4 μg/kg per die (range 10–15 μg/kg per die). 32 healthy subjects, comparable for age, sex and socioeconomic status were enrolled as control. CH patients and controls underwent Child and Adolescent Disruptive Behaviour Inventory-Plus (CADBI-plus) to evaluate attention and SCT symptoms. Cooperation from both parents and from teacher of enrolled subject was required to enter the study. SCT is a newly defined childhood disorder associated with a slow cognitive processing, sluggishness, daydreaming, drowsiness, lethargy and under-activeness.

Results: CH children scored significantly higher than controls in: attention problems referred by both mothers (M) (5.29±5.01 vs 3.17±2.54; P 0.04), and teachers (T) (7.2±8.49 vs 2.69±3.28, P<0.01) and SCT symptoms referred by both parents (F 9.61±7.04 vs 5.41±4.77, P<0.01; M 10.63±9.57 vs 4.9±4.68, P<0.01) and teachers (T 13.2±13.01 vs 4.28±5.63, P<0.01). No significant differences were found in hyperactivity or oppositional behaviors. Concerning academic performance, teachers report lower scores in mathematics in CH children compared to controls (6.25±2.13 vs 7.1±1.13, P 0.05).

Conclusion: The results of our study suggest that CH children may have ADs, SCT symptoms and impaired mathematical abilities, despite early replacement therapy and high starting LT4 doses.

Volume 84

54th Annual ESPE (ESPE 2015)

Barcelona, Spain
01 Oct 2015 - 03 Oct 2015

European Society for Paediatric Endocrinology 

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