A TWENTY-FIVE YEAR FOLLOW-UP STUDY ON THE HYPERKINETIC CHILD WITH MINIMAL BRAIN DYSFUNCTION

Abstract

Eighteen patients who had been evaluated at a child psychiatry clinic a mean of 24 years ago were selected for follow-up by the following criteria: the presenting symptoms had been hyperactivity and short attention span, none had seizures, all had an I.Q. over 70, and all had indications of neurologic abnormalities such as poor coordination, visual motor dysfunction, or speech impairment. Eleven of the 18 were reexamined fully and an interview or information was obtained about three more. Neurologic examination showed definite abnormalities in eight subjects and suspicious findings in one, but it was normal in two. Hyperactivity was still present in three subjects aged 22 to 23 years and had disappeared between the ages of 8 and 21 in the others. Four subjects were institutionalized as psychotic, two others were retarded and supported by their families, and eight were self-supporting. Of the latter, four have spent some time in institutions. A major prognositc factor was the I.Q. obtained during initial evaluation; all but one of the subjects who were self-supporting had scored an I.Q. above 90.