Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine/Division of General Pediatrics and Neonatology, Medical University Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Wien Klin Wochenschr. 2010 Dec;122(23-24):673-80. doi: 10.1007/s00508-010-1504-0. Epub 2010 Dec 7.
Adaptive behaviour in Down syndrome is described to increase until middle childhood and to begin to decline in adolescence, whereas significant deterioration in middle adulthood has been attributed to early onset of dementia. Nevertheless, opinions diverge about when the slowing down of adaptive and cognitive abilities starts. Our aims were to describe the profile of adaptive behaviour in Down syndrome, the variability within different age-groups, age-related changes and the correlation to cognitive abilities.
In a prospective cross-sectional study, individuals with Down syndrome all living in the family and without signs of dementia in 4 Italian sites were included and performed a detailed medical and neuropsychiatric work-up, as well as cognitive testing and adaptive behaviour, using the Vineland Adaptive Behaviour Scales.
Seventy-five individuals with Down syndrome from 4 to 52 years were included. Adults from 20 to 30 years showed the highest performance of all groups. The area of communication, always an area of strength, did not change over time, in childhood and especially in adolescence daily living skills (p = 0.012) and socialisation (p = 0.021) scored on average, whereas in young and middle adulthood performance in daily living skills and socialisation and were areas of strength.
Individuals with DS continue to increase competence in adaptive behaviour until 30 years, even when cognitive abilities reach a plateau. We found no major decline in middle adulthood. This may be due to exposure to daily life, but needs to be supported by further studies.
唐氏综合征患者的适应行为被描述为在儿童中期之前增加，并在青春期开始下降，而中年时认知能力显著下降归因于痴呆的早期发病。然而，关于适应和认知能力下降的开始时间，人们的观点存在分歧。我们的目的是描述唐氏综合征患者的适应行为特征、不同年龄组内的可变性、与年龄相关的变化以及与认知能力的相关性。
在一项前瞻性的横断面研究中，我们在意大利的 4 个地点纳入了所有居住在家庭中且没有痴呆迹象的唐氏综合征患者，并进行了详细的医学和神经精神检查，以及认知测试和使用 Vineland 适应行为量表进行的适应行为测试。
我们纳入了 75 名唐氏综合征患者，年龄在 4 至 52 岁之间。20 至 30 岁的成年人在所有组中表现最好。沟通领域一直是优势领域，在儿童期和青春期，其能力没有随时间变化（p = 0.012），日常生活技能（p = 0.021）和社交技能的评分平均有所提高，而在青年和中年时期，日常生活技能和社交技能则是优势领域。
唐氏综合征患者的适应行为能力会持续增加，直到 30 岁，即使认知能力达到平台期也是如此。我们没有发现中年时的明显下降。这可能是由于日常生活的影响，但需要进一步的研究来支持。
