Neuropsychological profile of children with sickle cell disease

• Grant number: 11/16260-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: March 01, 2012
• End date: March 31, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Psychology - Fundamentals and Assessments in Psychology
• Principal Investigator: Sonia Regina Pasian
• Grantee: Katiusha de Cerqueira Abreu
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto (FFCLRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) is a hematologic disorder that leads to several systemic complications, particularly neurological damage and cognitive deficits. Some studies have correlated brain Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Transcranial Doppler (TCD)with neuropsychological evaluations of children with SCD, indicating specific cognitive impairments and general intellectual deficits that predispose a poor academic performance, higher school retention rates and need for special education services. The aim of this research is to characterize the neuropsychological and behavioral performance of children with SCD with ages 7 to 11 years.Thus, it is important to invest in new studies of children with SCD in the Brazilian population through neuropsychological valid, since early diagnosis of neuropsychological difficulties enables a greater investment in preventive interventions and formulation of rehabilitation programs in brain dysfunction.Furthermore, intend to assess and describe the main cognitive functions and behavior of these children (attention / executive function, learning and memory, language, visuospatial processing, sensory-motor) through psychological assessment tools, specifically a battery Neuropsychological Assessment (NEPSY-II), as adapted in Brazil.The children will also be evaluated individually by the following instruments: WISC-III Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (short form) and Test of Raven's Progressive Matrices, and their parents/ guardians will answer the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), has also adapted to Brazil. Will have two groups of children with 30 participants (in each group):a clinician (with SCD) and a comparison (schools, no complaints, matched for sex, age and home school with clinical cases). This research will correlate the neuropsychological profile of children of the clinical group to socio-demographic variables (age, sex, years of education, school retention, need for special educational services, socio-economic and parents' education) and clinical variables (hematocrit level, disease severity and presence of altered brain through MRI scans and TCD). It aims to also establish primary reference of the battery NEPSY-II to the region of Ribeirão Preto (SP), comparing them with initial results of Brazilian studies of neuropsychological standardization of this instrument. Hope to with those results, know the neuropsychological profile of children with SCD, enabling greater investment in preventive interventions and formulation of rehabilitation programs in the setting of brain dysfunction in children. (AU)

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

ABREU, Katiusha de Cerqueira. Neuropsychological and behavioral profile of children with sickle cell disease.. 2013. Master's Dissertation - Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto (PCARP/BC) Ribeirão Preto.