Competencias narrativas escritas en niños con trastornos del desarrollo / Narrative in children with developmental disorders

RESUMEN INTRODUCCIÓN: Los aspectos narrativos del lenguaje constituyen una competencia en el desarrollo funcional de la comunicación, la cual predice el desempeño académico de los niños. En este trabajo se estudia la narrativa en niños con trastornos del desarrollo, a fin de hacer diagnósticos precoces y adoptar mejores estrategias terapéuticas. MATERIAL Y MÉTODO: Estudio controlado analítico de corte transversal. Se incluyen sujetos de 9 a 17 años, evaluados con la prueba de teoría de la mente (TOM) de Sally y Anne, quienes luego deben narrar la historia de la prueba. Se evaluó el número total de palabras (TP), la cantidad total de oraciones (TO), el promedio de palabras por oración (PPO), la sintaxis (S) y la capacidad expresar la idea central del relato (ICR). RESULTADOS: Participaron 61 sujetos. El grupo 1 o control con 24, el grupo 2 con 37 sujetos (con diagnóstico de trastorno por déficit de atención (TDA), trastorno de la lectoescritura (TLE), trastorno del espectro autista (TEA) y discapacidad intelectual (DI)). En teoría de la mente respondieron correctamente 18 participantes del grupo 1, 7 participantes con TDA, 4 de los TLE, 5 sujetos con DI y 3 sujetos con TEA. Los sujetos del grupo 2 presentaron distintos grados de dificultades narrativas según el trastorno. A mayor edad utilizaron mayor cantidad de palabras, sin distinción por sexo. CONCLUSIÓN: Es importante estudiar los aspectos narrativos del lenguaje en pediatría puesto que las habilidades requeridas incluyen aspectos estructurales del lenguaje y habilidades cognitivas que es necesario tener en cuenta para definir estrategias terapéuticas más precisas y acordes a las necesidades de este grupo de pacientes.

ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION: Narrative is a competence in the functional development of communication that predicts academic performance in children. We studied narrative in children with developmental disorders in order to develop better therapeutic strategies. METHODS: Cross-sectional analytical controlled study. We included subjects age 9 to 17 years old, evaluated with the Mind Theory Test (TOM) of Sally and Anne in which they have to repeat a story. We evaluated total number of words (TP), total number of sentences (TO), average words per sentence (PPO), syntax (S) and ability to express the central idea of the story (ICR). RESULTS: We included 61 subjects in two groups. Group 1 or control with 24, Group 2 with 37 subjects (with a diagnosis of attention deficit disorder (ADD), literacy disorder (TLE), autistic spectrum disorder (ASD), intellectual disability (ID)). TOM 3 was correctly answered by 18 subjects of Group 1, 7 of ADD, 4 of the TLE, 5 of the ID and 3 participants with TEA. The Group 2 presented different degrees of narrative difficulties. All children said more words when they grew up without distinction by gender. DISCUSSION: Children with developmental disorders present a lower performance in narrative aspects depending of the disorder, which allows to carry out therapeutic strategies according to their needs.

Letter and category Fluency Test in Spanish-Speaking Children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders.

INTRODUCTION: Verbal fluency test is a short psychometric test, which is sensitive to verbal ability and executive control impairment. We did not find studies that analyze verbal fluency in relation to the neurodevelopmental disorders in Spanish-speaking children with letters P-M. Our objective was to analyze the verbal fluency of Spanish-speaking children with neurodevelopmental disorders. METHOD: We carried out a retrospective cross-sectional study to analyze the performance of children who had undergone a neuropsychological assessment. RESULTS: We included 164 patients. There were 55 (33.54%) patients with low intellectual performance (LIP), 19 (11.59%) patients with dyslexia , and 90 (54.88%) patients had an ADHD. Patients with LIP showed lower phonological fluency than patients with ADHD. As for semantic fluidity, differences were observed between patients with LIP and ADHD and also between LIP and dyslexia. The probability of having LIP was 9.6 times greater when somebody had a scale score lower than 7 in the PF task and it was 16.7 times greater when the scale score was lower than 7 in the SF task. CONCLUSIONS: There was a direct relationship between FSIQ and the performance in verbal fluency test, which is a brief and effective neuropsychological test in revealing deficits in executive functions, verbal abilities, and LIP.

Verbal Fluency Test in Children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders.

Background The verbal fluency task is a widely used psychometric test to account for cognitive functions, particularly, verbal and executive functions. Being an easy and fast test to administer, it is a good neuropsychological tool in low technology environments. Our objective was to analyze the performance in verbal fluency of Spanish-speaking children with neurodevelopmental disorders. Methods We performed a retrospective cross-sectional study to analyze the performance of children who had undergone a verbal fluency test in a neuropsychological assessment. Results We included 115 participants. There were 41 (35.65%) participants with low intellectual performance (LIP), 63 (54.78%) with attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD), and 11(9.57%) participants with dyslexia. Participants with LIP showed lower phonological and semantic fluency scores than participants with ADHD, and a lower performance in semantic fluency than the dyslexia group. The probability of having LIP was 6.12 times greater when somebody had a scale score lower than 7 in the phonological task and it was 7.9 times greater when the scale score was lower than 7 in the semantic task. Conclusion There was a direct relationship between Full Scale Intelligence Quotient and verbal fluency test performance, the latter being a brief and effective neuropsychological test that can reveal deficit not only in executive functions and verbal abilities but also detect LIP.

Fluencia verbal: un test neuropsicológico breve para la detección de trastornos cognitivos en pediatría / Verbal fluency: A rapid neuropsychological test for the detection of cognitive disorders in pediatrics

RESUMEN INTRODUCCIÓN: La fluencia verbal es un test psicométrico breve utilizado en evaluaciones neuropsicológicas para estudiar funciones ejecutivas y verbales. El desempeño en la población pediátrica en esta prueba no ha sido profundamente estudiado. Tampoco encontramos estudios en pediatría que analicen la fluidez verbal fonológica (FF) en relación al nivel intelectual utilizando la versión española con letras iniciales "P" y "M". OBJETIVO: Analizar el rendimiento en FF en función del nivel intelectual y del diagnóstico. MÉTODO: Corte transversal. Se incluyeron pacientes entre 6 y 16 años con evaluación neuropsicológica con nivel intelectual (WISCIV) y FF (NEPSYII) entre enero y junio del 2016. Se realizó una regresión lineal simple para analizar la relación entre FF y el resto de las variables de estudio. RESULTADOS: Se incluyeron 95 pacientes, edad media de 10 años. La FF mostró correlación positiva con el nivel intelectual total (CIT) (r=3,71; p<0,001; IC95 % 2,77- 4,65). El 73 % de pacientes con FF normal tuvieron un CIT normal. La probabilidad de presentar un CIT descendido presentado una FF menor de 7 fue 5,5 veces mayor (OR=5,5 p<0,003; IC95 %=2,23-13,76). Quienes presentaron una FF descendida con CIT normal (n=19), El 80 % tenía diagnóstico de trastorno por déficit de atención (15/19) y 21 % dislexia (4/19). CONCLUSIONES: Nuestros resultados tienen una importante implicancia clínica, pues no siempre se dispone del acceso y tiempo necesario para realizar una evaluación neuropsicológica extensa. El presente trabajo demuestra que la prueba FF de rápida administración con letras "P" y "M" resulta una herramienta de screening neuropsicológica efectiva en revelar déficit no sólo en funciones ejecutivas y habilidades verbales, sino también en detectar el rendimiento intelectual descendido.

SUMMARY INTRODUCTION: Verbal fluency is a brief psychometric test used in neuropsychological assessments to study executive and verbal functions. Pediatric population performance in this trial has not been thoroughly studied. We also did not find studies in pediatrics that analyze the phonological verbal fluency (FF) in relation to the intellectual level using the Spanish version with initial letters "P" and "M". OBJECTIVE: Analyze FF performance based on intellectual level and diagnosis. METHODS: It's a cross-section research. We included patients between 6 and 16 years old with neuropsychological assessment with intellectual level (WISCIV) and FF (NEPSYII) between January and June of 2016. A simple linear regression was performed to analyze the relationship between FF and the rest of the variables. RESULTS: We included 95 patients, mean age of 10 years. The FF showed a positive correlation with the total intellectual level (ITC) (r = 3.71, p <0.001, 95% CI 2.77-4.65). The 73% of patients with normal FF had a normal ITC. The probability of showing a lower ITC when the FF was lower than 7 was 5.5 times greater (OR = 5.5, p <0.003, 95% CI = 2.23-13.76). Those who presented a lower FF with normal ITC (n = 19) 80% had diagnosis of Attention Deficit Disorder (15/19) and 21% dyslexia (4/19). CONCLUSIONS: Our results have important clinical implications because the access and time necessary for an extensive neuropsychological evaluation is not always available. The present research shows that FF of 2 minutes long with letters "P" and "M" is an effective neuropsychological screening tool in revealing deficit not only in executive functions and verbal abilities, but also in detecting decreased intellectual performance. Those patients with poor performance in this test should perform a complete neuropsychological assesment in order to clarify the diagnosis.