Intellectual and Attentional Characteristics of Children with Celiac Disease after Initiation of a Gluten-Free Diet

Ada Lee¹, Sherin Daniel¹, Denease Francis¹, Catherine Messina², Jaeah Chung³, Lesley Small-Harary¹, Janet E Fischel⁴ and Anupama Chawla^1,

¹Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University, Stony Brook Children’s Hospital, Stony Brook, NY 11794

²Department of Family, Population and Preventive Medicine, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794

³Division of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, Ichahn School of Medicine at Mt Sinai, New York, NY 10029

⁴Division of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University, Stony Brook Children’s Hospital, Stony Brook, NY 11794

Cite this paper:
Ada Lee, Sherin Daniel, Denease Francis, Catherine Messina, Jaeah Chung, Lesley Small-Harary, Janet E Fischel and Anupama Chawla. Intellectual and Attentional Characteristics of Children with Celiac Disease after Initiation of a Gluten-Free Diet. International Journal of Celiac Disease. 2020; 8(4):129-135. doi: 10.12691/ijcd-8-4-5

Abstract

The association of celiac disease (CD) with various cognitive and behavioral symptoms has been reported, but findings are mixed and inconclusive. This prospective study aimed to evaluate whether elimination of gluten in children with newly diagnosed CD leads to improvement in cognitive and behavioral functioning particularly related to attention after 6 months of a gluten-free diet (GFD). Thirty-three patients completed the study. Parent ratings of child behavior and direct assessment of child intelligence and attentional characteristics were collected. Parent reported scores on the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) demonstrated improvement in somatic symptoms and attentional characteristics after 6 months of GFD. Between 6-33% of the patients showed improvement in the 4 different attentional characteristics evaluated by the Conners Continuous Performance Test (CPT3). We conclude that parent ratings support improvement in somatic symptoms and attentional characteristics in celiac patients once on a GFD for 6 months.

Keywords:
Celiac disease ADHD behavior IQ cognitive psychological

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