BECKER AND LIMB-GIRDLE MUSCULAR-DYSTROPHIES - A PSYCHIATRIC AND INTELLECTUAL LEVEL COMPARATIVE-STUDY

There are some indications that Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD) might be related to mental disorders and mental retardation (MR). To investi gate this question, we made a standardized psychiatric and intellectua l level assessment of 22 BMD patients in comparison with 22 limb-girdl e muscular dystrophy (LGMD) patients. There were not significant diffe rences between the two groups. Twelve patients (54.5%) in each group r eceived at least one lifetime psychiatric diagnosis, the most frequent being depressive disorders. The intelligence quotient means for BMD w as 85.9 and 87.8 for LGMD. There was one case of mild MR among BMD pat ients and two cases among LGMD patients. (C) 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.