Resumen de Estudio de las funciones ejecutivas en diabetes tipo 1 mediante el test de evaluación neuropsicológica de las funciones ejecutivas en niños: (ENFEN)
M.L. López Fernández, Raquel Barrio Castellanos, José Antonio Portellano Pérez, María del Rosario Martínez Arias
Introduction: Neurocognitiveexecutivefunctioninthepaediatricdiabeticpopulationis a rarely studied ?eld. To investigate and improve this aspect could help these patients to reach their full academic potential. This led us to study the impactthat variables such as age at diagnosis and adequacy of metabolic control of diabetes may have on the executive cognitive functions of this population.
Patients and methods: We studied 74 children: 37with type 1 diabetes (groupA) and 37without diabetes (group B). Group A was divided into two subgroups, depending on age at diagnosis:
early, before 5 years, (group A1) and late, after 5 years, (group A2). We compared group A and B and A1 and A2 groups using the test Neuropsychological assessment of executive functions in children (NAEFC). Diabetes metabolic control was performed by measuring HbA1c and capillary blood glucose before the test. Previous severe hypoglycaemic episodes were recorded.
Results: Differences were found among groups A and B in the test of interference. Among the A1 and A2 groups only differences in the scales of phonological ?uency and grey trailtrace were found. The scores were higher in both cases in the early diabetic group. We did not found any correlation between HbA1c and blood glucose with the different tests of ENFEN results. None of the patients had previous severe hypoglycaemic episodes.
Conclusions: 1) Children with diabetes performed betterin activities thatrequire resistance to interference, sustained attention and attentional control. 2) Diabetic children with early diagnoses achieved high scores in phonological ?uency tasks, and cognitive ?exibility. 3) Response to ENFEN was not in?uenced by HbA1c and blood glucose levels before the test.
