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WORK AND DISABILITY AT THE AGE OF 30 YEARS. VII. ENCEPHALOPATHY: FREQUENCY AND RELATION TO SCHOOL BACKGROUND AND INTELLECTUAL ABILITY
Author(s) -
Kinge Finn Olav
Publication year - 1977
Publication title -
acta neurologica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.967
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1600-0404
pISSN - 0001-6314
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0404.1977.tb01429.x
Subject(s) - relation (database) , psychology , encephalopathy , intellectual disability , gerontology , medicine , pediatrics , psychiatry , database , computer science
The present study, based on a neurological and electroencephalographic examination, provides information on frequency of encephalopathy at the age of 30 years. Presence of encephalopathy is viewed in relation to school background at the age of 14 years, and intellectual ability at the age of 30 years. The study is based on a cohort of 1570 persons consisting of all live births in 1940 of mothers then residing in Bergen. A sample was taken of the cohort and consisted of 262 persons of whom 179 (68.3 per cent) were examined. Criteria for the diagnosis of encephalopathy include signs of organic cerebral lesion by neurological status, pathological electroencephalogram and presence of epilepsy. According to these criteria, frequency of definite encephalopathy in the cohort could be estimated to be 3.3 per cent. Encephalopathy with specific neurological functional limitations contributes to this estimate with 1.9 per cent, mental retardation alone with 0.2 per cent and encephalopathy without symptoms and demonstrable functional limitations with 1.2 per cent. The frequency of encephalopathy was found to increase with lower educational level and with decreasing IQ points. It was especially high among former pupils of special schools for the educable mentally retarded and for members of services for the mentally retarded, namely 28.1 per cent and 37.9 per cent respectively. The figures refer to definite encephalopathy. If cases of definite and possible encephalopathy in the cohort are combined, the frequency of encephalopathy could be estimated to be 7.9 per cent ± 5.0 per cent. However, nearly 2/3 of those with definite and possible encephalopathy, according to the criteria mentioned above, are found to have no functional limitations and no demonstrable symptoms at all. Viewed in the light of this relatively high proportion, it is evident that it may be difficult or impossible to decide if neuro‐psychiatric conditions with vague and indistinct symptoms have their origin in diagnosed encephalopathy.