ISSN: 1308-5727 | E-ISSN: 1308-5735
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Turkish Society for Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes
Neurocognitive Functions in Children and Adolescents with Subclinical Hypothyroidism [J Clin Res Pediatr Endocrinol]
J Clin Res Pediatr Endocrinol. 2012; 4(1): 21-24 | DOI: 10.4274/Jcrpe.497

Neurocognitive Functions in Children and Adolescents with Subclinical Hypothyroidism

Ayça Törel Ergür1, Yasemen Taner2, Evşen Ata2, Efnan Melek3, Emel Erdoğan Bakar4, Tanzer Sancak5
1Ufuk University Faculty Of Medicine, Department Of Pediatric Endocrinology, Ankara, Turkey
2Ufuk University Faculty Of Medicine, Department Of Child And Adolescent Psychiatry, Ankara, Turkey
3Ufuk University Faculty Of Medicine, Department Of Pediatrics, Ankara, Turkey
4Ufuk University Faculty Of Medicine, Department Of Psychology, Ankara, Turkey
55Ufuk University Faculty Of Medicine, Department Of Radiology, Ankara, Turkey

Objective: Hypothyroidism is a metabolic condition that can lead to cognitive and behavioral deficits in children and adolescents. However, there is less evidence about subclinical hypothyroidism (SH) as a risk factor for neuropsychological disorders in childhood. The aim of this study was to evaluate cognitive functions like active/passive attention, maintaining attention, and response inhibition in pediatric patients with SH.
Met­hods: Seventeen patients (between 7-17 years old) with SH were tested with the Stroop test, Verbal Fluency test and the sub-tests of the Wechsler intelligence scale for children-Revised (WISC-R). SH diagnosis was based on the mild increase of serum thyrotropin (TSH) level together with a normal serum free thyroxine level and an exaggerated TSH response to thyrotropin-releasing hormone.
Re­sults: Out of seventeen cases, 10 (59%) were girls and 7 (41%) were boys. Six cases were obese and 5 were overweight. The children in the SH group, as compared to the control group, obtained significantly lower scores on both the Digit Span subtest of the WISC-R and the Stroop subtests, which are sensitive to attention. No significant differences were found between the SH group and the healthy controls in verbal fluency and encoding tests.
Conc­lu­si­on: In this study, pediatric patients with SH showed poor performance in tests measuring attention. Therefore, we want to stress the importance of close collaboration between pediatric endocrinology and child and adolescent psychiatry departments.

Keywords: hypothyroidism,neurocognitive functions

Ayça Törel Ergür, Yasemen Taner, Evşen Ata, Efnan Melek, Emel Erdoğan Bakar, Tanzer Sancak. Neurocognitive Functions in Children and Adolescents with Subclinical Hypothyroidism. J Clin Res Pediatr Endocrinol. 2012; 4(1): 21-24
Manuscript Language: English
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