title: Academic abilities and glycaemic control in children and young people with Type 1 diabetes mellitus.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine if children and young people aged < 23 years with Type 1 diabetes differ in academic ability from age-matched control subjects without Type 1 diabetes and whether academic scores are related to glycaemic control.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using a cross-sectional study design, we administered cognitive and academic tests (Woodcock-Johnson III Spatial Relations, General Information, Letter-Word Recognition, Calculation and Spelling tests) to young people with Type 1 diabetes (n=61) and control subjects (n=26) aged 9-22 years. The groups did not differ in age or gender. Participants with Type 1 diabetes had a disease duration of 5-17.7 years. History of glycaemic control (HbA1c , diabetic ketoacidosis and severe hypoglycaemic episodes) was obtained via medical records and interviews.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The participants with Type 1 diabetes had a lower mean estimated verbal intelligence (IQ) level compared with those in the control group (P=0.04). Greater exposure to hyperglycaemia over time was associated with lower spelling abilities within the group with Type 1 diabetes (P=0.048), even after controlling for age, gender, socio-economic status, blood glucose level at time of testing and verbal IQ (P=0.01). History of severe hypoglycaemia or ketoacidosis was not associated with differences in academic abilities.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In children and young people, Type 1 diabetes was associated with a lower verbal IQ. Moreover, increased exposure to hyperglycaemia was associated with lower spelling performance. These results imply that hyperglycaemia can affect cognitive function and/or learning processes that may affect academic achievement.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Pediatrics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Semenkovich
authors.affiliation: Departments of Pediatrics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA.
authors.forename: P P
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational Therapy, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA.
authors.forename: A B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Pollock
authors.affiliation: Departments of Pediatrics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA.
authors.forename: K A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Beach
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nelson
authors.affiliation: Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Missouri State University, Springfield, MO, USA.
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Masterson
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA.|Department of Neurology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA.|Department of Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hershey
authors.affiliation: Departments of Pediatrics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA.
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Arbeláez
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D041923:Adolescent Development / Q000187:drug effects; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development / Q000187:drug effects; D003071:Cognition / Q000187:drug effects; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy*; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D006943:Hyperglycemia / Q000517:prevention & control*; D007003:Hypoglycemia / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D007328:Insulin / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D007360:Intelligence / Q000187:drug effects; D007859:Learning Disabilities / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008297:Male; D008923:Missouri / Q000453:epidemiology; D012306:Risk; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin; D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents; D007328:Insulin; C517652:hemoglobin A1c protein, human