Estimating Premorbid Intellectual Functioning in Children and Measuring Change in Cognitive Functioning as Children Develop

Estimating Premorbid Intellectual Functioning in the Paediatric Population and Developing a Reliable Means for Quantifying Abnormal Change in Cognitive Functions as Children Develop

Diagnosing and documenting the presence of abnormal change in cognitive functions (such as reasoning abilities) in children over time is of upmost importance when it comes to evaluating the impact of neurological injury, disease, and interventions designed to help improve wellbeing. Unfortunately however, current methods for detecting cognitive impairment and monitoring for abnormal cognitive change in children over time are seriously flawed. By assessing typically developing children's cognitive functioning at two different time points, this study intends to generate new normative data that will significantly improve measurement accuracy when it comes to evaluating the impact of neurological injury and disease on a child's cognitive abilities.

Study Overview

• Status: Enrolling by invitation
• Conditions: Cognitive Impairment; Child Development
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Cognitive test administration

Detailed Description

Neurological injury and disease can substantially affect how children's brains work. This can severely impair cognitive abilities and general development. On a day-to-day level, completing everyday tasks, socialising successfully with peers, and getting on with school work can become much more difficult than it was before.

Helpfully, supports and treatments are available that can reduce the negative effects of neurological impairment on a child's cognitive functioning in order to maximise developmental outcomes. However, to deliver appropriate interventions, we must correctly estimate the impact of injury or illness on cognitive abilities and accurately measure how successful treatments are at improving outcomes. Unfortunately, reliable ways of doing this simply do not exist at this time. Consequently, accurate disease (effects) monitoring is seriously undermined; potentially compromising a child's medical management and, thereby, future developmental outcomes.

This study intends to addresses this grave shortcoming by developing reliable ways of measuring the cognitive effects of neurological disease or injury at diagnosis and beyond. Of note, by providing a mechanism to better inform clinical/medical management decisions, completion of this study will help contribute to health and social care aims of enabling children to realise their developmental potential.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Estimated): 100

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United Kingdom
  • UK
    • Aberdeen, UK, United Kingdom, AB25 2ZH
      • Royal Aberdeen Children's Hospital

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 6 years to 17 years (Child)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

A group of schoolchildren (aged between 6 years and 16 years 11 months) from the general paediatric population will be recruited

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• All participants must be aged between 6 years 0 months and 16 years 11 months 364 days
• Participants must be enrolled into a local mainstream school and have English as their first language
• Participants must not have sustained a previous brain-injury and not suffer from any other neurological illness (please see exclusion criteria below)

Exclusion Criteria:

• Individuals born significantly premature, that have a diagnosis of learning disability, a known neurological illness, or who have had a previous head-injury that required hospitalisation will be excluded from taking part in the study
• Individuals with a current mental health problem for which they are receiving treatment or those with substance misuse problems will also be excluded
• Participants unable to give informed consent will likewise be excluded

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Number of groups / cohorts

1

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort	Intervention / Treatment
Children; A group of 'typically' developing children (aged between 6 years and 16 years 11 months) from the general paediatric population will be recruited; with the sample distributed evenly across 6 age bands (i.e. ages 6-7 years, 8-9 years, 10-11 years, 12-13 years, 14-15 years, and 16 years+).	Other: Cognitive test administration; Specifically chosen cognitive tests will be administered to all participants twice; with an approximate 12 month gap between initial testing and follow-up testing.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Obtained intelligence quotient (IQ) score	A child's obtained Full Scale IQ score from a standardised assessment of intelligence constitutes the main outcome variable for this study	Baseline
Change in obtained intelligence quotient (IQ) score (at 12 month follow-up)	A child's obtained Full Scale IQ score at 12 months follow-up also constitutes a main outcome variable for this study	12 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Aberdeen
• Collaborators: NHS Grampian
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Bruce Downey, NHS Grampian

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): October 31, 2019
• Primary Completion (Estimated): August 1, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 1, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: October 31, 2019
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 5, 2019
• First Posted (Actual): November 6, 2019

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): May 6, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 30, 2026
• Last Verified: April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Neuropsychology
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Neurocognitive Disorders; Cognition Disorders; Cognitive Dysfunction
• Other Study ID Numbers: 1-064-19

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No