title: Verbal intellectual and verbal memory performance of youths with childhood-onset insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.
abstract: Tested the hypothesis that memory dysfunction mediated the decline in verbal intellectual performance (as measured by the WISC-R Vocabulary test) that we detected previously in a prospective study of children who developed IDDM between the ages of 8 to 13 years. Three tests of verbal learning and memory were administered to 57 diabetic youths at end-of-study who had been followed for 8 years, on average. Memory performance at end-of-study was predicted only by Vocabulary test score at study entry. IDDM duration, long-term metabolic control, depression/anxiety, demographic variables, or blood glucose level at the time of assessment were not associated with memory test scores. Stepwise multiple regression revealed that level of performance on a test of short-term or working memory was associated with magnitude of decline in verbal intellectual performance over time, providing partial support for our hypothesis.
authors.affiliation: University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kovacs
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ryan
authors.forename: D S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Obrosky
mesh_terms: D017668:Age of Onset; D002648:Child; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000150:complications*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence; D007361:Intelligence Tests; D007807:Language Tests; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D014706:Verbal Learning