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Children with neonatal Hypoxic Ischaemic Encephalopathy (HIE) treated with therapeutic hypothermia are not as school ready as their peers
Author(s) -
Edmonds Caroline J,
Cianfaglione Rina,
Cornforth Christine,
Vollmer Brigitte
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
acta paediatrica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1651-2227
pISSN - 0803-5253
DOI - 10.1111/apa.16002
Subject(s) - medicine , cerebral palsy , hypothermia , pediatrics , encephalopathy , cognition , hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy , developmental psychology , physical therapy , anesthesia , psychiatry , psychology
Aim We aimed to determine whether children with neonatal Hypoxic Ischaemic Encephalopathy (HIE) treated with therapeutic hypothermia (TH) differ from their peers on measures of fine motor skills, executive function, language and general cognitive abilities, factors that are important for school readiness. Methods We compared school readiness in 31children with HIE treated with TH (without Cerebral Palsy; mean age 5 years 4 months) with 20 typically developing children without HIE (mean age 5 years 6 months). Results Children with HIE scored significantly lower than typically developing children on fine motor skills, executive functions, memory and language. Conclusion While general cognitive abilities and attainment were in the normal range, our findings suggest those scores mask specific underlying difficulties identified by more focussed assessments. Children with HIE treated with TH may not be as ‘school ready’ as their typically developing classmates and may benefit from long‐term follow‐up until starting school.