Comments on neuropsychological approaches to treatment policy issues in phenylketonuria

Authors
Citation
Nba. Stemerdink, Comments on neuropsychological approaches to treatment policy issues in phenylketonuria, EUR J PED, 159, 2000, pp. S87-S88
Citations number
7
Categorie Soggetti
Pediatrics,"Medical Research General Topics
Journal title
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PEDIATRICS
ISSN journal
03406199 → ACNP
Volume
159
Year of publication
2000
Supplement
2
Pages
S87 - S88
Database
ISI
SICI code
0340-6199(200010)159:<S87:CONATT>2.0.ZU;2-F
Abstract
The effect of dietary treatment on the cognitive development of young child ren with phenylketonuria (PKU) has been studied quite extensively and it se ems clear that strict treatment should be maintained at least until the age of 10 years, as most treatment centres do in fact recommend. In contrast, there is still a lot of uncertainty and disagreement about the treatment of PKU patients over 10 years of age. Part of this is simply due to the relat ive scarcity of relevant studies. Another important part, however, has to d o with the fact that findings of different studies are often reviewed and i nterpreted without much consideration of the sometimes substantial differen ces in method, sample, and design as well as the methodological problems th at limit some of them. This not only makes it difficult to draw any conclus ions regarding the treatment of older patients, but could even lead to inco rrect conclusions. Two methodological issues that seem especially important in this respect are lack of power and the choice of tests.