A-054 Deficit in Custained Attention in Children Born with Hypoxic-ischaemic Encephalopathy

Abstract

Abstract Objective There are evidences that children, born with Hypoxic-ischaemic Encephalopathy (HIE), have a delay in the development of neurocognitive functions, specifically they have a deficit in executive abilities. Do they have global or specific deficit in executive abilities? The goal of this research was to examine the hypothesis that children, born with HIE, have a deficit in sustained attention. Methods The experimental group included 20 children aged 5-6 years (mean age = 5.7). They were born full-term with perinatal Hypoxic-ischaemic Encephalopathy. The control group included 20 typically developing children. The children from experimental and control group were matched for gender and age. Children from both groups were assessed with 4 subtests from NEPSY (Tower, Auditory Attention and Response Set, Visual Attention, Statue) which are designed to assess the executive abilities in children. Results One-way ANOVA has revealed group differences (p < .05) in two subtests from NEPSY. Children with perinatal HIE have shown the weaknesses in performing Auditory Attention and Response Set and Visual Attention subtest. We did not reveal the significant differences (p < .05) in performing Tower and Statue subtest. Conclusion In view of the obtained results it can be assumed that the Hypoxic-ischaemic Encephalopathy has a specific (not global) negative effect on the development of executive abilities, particularly children with perinatal HIE have a deficit in sustained attention at the age of 5-6 years.