Title
Behaviour and school achievement in patients with early and continuously treated phenylketonuria
Author
Stemerdink, B.A.
Kalverboer, A.F.
van der Meere, J.J.
van der Molen, M.W.
Huisman, J.
de Jong, L.W.A.
Slijper, F.M.E.
Verkerk, P.H.
van Spronsen, F.J.
TNO Preventie en Gezondheid
Publication year
2000
Abstract
Thirty patients with early and continuously treated phenylketonuria (PKU) between 8 and 20 years of age were compared with 30 controls, matched individually for age, sex, and educational level of both parents, on behaviour rating scales for parents and teachers as well as a school achievement scale. PKU patients, as a group, demonstrated more problems in task-oriented behaviour and average academic performance than did matched controls. Interestingly, whereas male PKU patients were rated significantly lower on introversion by their teachers, female patients were rated significantly higher on introversion and lower on extraversion than matched controls. This sex difference was also reflected in the relationship between measures of dietary control and the behaviour clusters, suggesting that male and female patients respond differently to elevated Phe levels or the stress associated with PKU. The teacher rating on average academic performance of the PKU patients was associated with recent level of dietary control, which suggests that it might be improved by more strict adherence to the diet. In addition, academic performance correlated negatively with the behaviour cluster negative task orientation. Further studies are recommended to obtain a more complete evaluation of this relationship and to replicate the current findings on larger samples.
Subject
Health
Phenylalanine
Academic achievement
Age
Child
Clinical article
Controlled study
Diet therapy
Education
Extraversion
Gender
Introversion
Parent
Rating scale
Scoring system
Sex difference
Stress
Task performance
Teacher
Achievement
Adolescent
Adult
Behavior
Child
Female
Humans
Intelligence Tests
Male
Phenylketonurias
Sex Characteristics
Social Behavior
Students
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DOI
https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1005669610722
TNO identifier
235705
ISSN
0141-8955
Source
Journal of Inherited Metabolic Disease, 23 (6), 548-562
Document type
article