Psychoeducational findings among children treated for phenylketonuria.
Early treated phenylketonuric children who maintained a phe-restricted diet through age 10 were compared with those who discontinued the diet after age 6 on standardized tests of intelligence, school achievement, language, and perceptual skills. Mean IQ, reading, and spelling test scores improved between ages 6 and 10 for the on-diet children in comparison to those who were off diet. Mean scores on arithmetic, language, and perceptual skills, however, declined at a uniform rate for both groups. Children with PKU scored significantly lower than did their non-PKU siblings on tests of visual perception and visual-motor skills. We conclude that children with PKU should be maintained on a phe-restricted diet.
D000124:Achievement; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence; D008433:Mathematics; D010649:Phenylalanine / Q000008:administration & dosage; D010661:Phenylketonurias / Q000178:diet therapy / Q000523:psychology*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D011932:Reading
D010649:Phenylalanine