Language Profile in Congenital Hypothyroid Children Receiving Replacement Therapy

The aim of this work was to evaluate receptive and expressive language skills in children with congenital hypothyroidism receiving early hormonal replacement treatment before the age of 3 months and to identify any subtle areas of weaknesses in their language development to check the necessity for future language intervention.

The study was conducted on 30 hypothyroid children receiving hormonal replacement. They were subdivided into group I (5-8 years 11 months; 12 cases) and group II (9-12 years 11 months; 18 cases). All patients were subjected to a protocol of assessment applied in the Diabetes, Endocrine and Metabolism Pediatric Unit (DEMPU) and evaluation of language skills by the REAL scale.

The younger group reached average Arabic language scores, while the older group showed moderate language delay.

Early replacement therapy supports language development in young children. However, longitudinal and follow-up studies are required to identify difficulties presenting at older ages that may affect children in the academic settings.