Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) is the fifth leading cause of death among children under five years old. We aim to learn more about long-term neuropsychological outcomes in children between the ages of 7 and 9 with a history of HIE who received targeted temperature management (TTM), predicting that our sample would show less pronounced motor and cognitive deficits while still exhibiting subtle differences from the general population.
Participants were 8 children diagnosed with HIE at birth (Mage = 8.56, SD = 0.94; Male = 5, 62.5%) who received TTM. Children completed measures of global cognitive ability, using the WASI-II and NIH Toolbox, motor and visual motor function with the Movement ABC-2, and semantic fluency using the NEPSY-II and CELF-5. Caregivers completed two questionnaires about their child’s behavior, one focusing on broad-spectrum behavior problems (CBCL) and the other on executive dysfunction (BRIEF-2). Children’s scores were compared to normative standards using one-sample t-tests.
Participants scored below normative standards on tests of visual-motor ability, processing speed, executive functioning, and semantic reasoning and fluency (ps < .05), but not on measures of global cognitive ability or working memory. They also had elevated ratings of executive function problems on the BRIEF-2 and of social, attention, affective, and anxiety problems on the CBCL (ps < .05).
These preliminary findings suggest that children with HIE who received TTM for HIE at birth may have persisting motor and executive functioning deficits as well as behavior problems suggestive of elevated levels of anxiety and weaknesses in executive control, attention, and socialization. Outcomes will be subject to further study as more children are recruited, but findings suggest that adverse developmental consequences of HIE despite TTM.