Kramer M S, Rooks Y, Pearson H A
N Engl J Med. 1978 Sep 28;299(13):686-9. doi: 10.1056/NEJM197809282991303.
To ascertain if sickle-cell trait (Hb AS) impairs physical growth and cognitive development, we prospectively investigated 50 matched pairs of black children. For each child with Hb AS, an Hb AA child was matched at birth for sex, birth date, birth weight, gestational age, five-minute Apgar score and socioeconomic status. Between the ages of three and five years, the members of each matched pair were evaluated, with one month of one another, by persons "blind" to the hemoglobin genotype. Twelve outcome measurements were obtained at evaluation: height, weight, head circumference, skin-fold thickness, cross-sectional area of arm muscle, bone age, five scores of the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities, and the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test. There were no statistically significant differences in these measurements favoring the AA group. The results show that children with sickle-cell trait in this age group have no deficits in standard measurements of growth and development and emphasize the importance of rigorous methods when clinical groups are assembled and compared.
为确定镰状细胞性状（Hb AS）是否会影响身体生长和认知发育，我们对50对匹配的黑人儿童进行了前瞻性研究。对于每一名患有Hb AS的儿童，均在出生时为其匹配一名性别、出生日期、出生体重、胎龄、5分钟阿氏评分及社会经济地位均相同的Hb AA儿童。在3至5岁之间，每对匹配儿童由对血红蛋白基因型“不知情”的人员在彼此相差一个月的时间内进行评估。评估时获得了12项结果测量值：身高、体重、头围、皮褶厚度、上臂肌肉横截面积、骨龄、麦卡锡儿童能力量表的五项得分以及皮博迪图片词汇测试结果。这些测量结果在统计学上并无显著差异表明AA组具有优势。结果显示，该年龄组具有镰状细胞性状的儿童在生长发育的标准测量方面并无缺陷，并强调了在组建和比较临床组时采用严谨方法的重要性。
