Mental retardation
From WikiLectures
Definition[edit | edit source]
- aka. Intellectual disability, oligophrenia, Intellectual disability disorder (IDD) (name in the DSM-V)
- It is a neurodevelopmental disorder, affects intellectual abilities
- characterized by a decrease of cognitive skill, adaptive function (need help)
Etiology[edit | edit source]
- genetic screening (only if you would terminate), part of a syndrome (fraglie X, down, cri du chat), acquired (cretinism, lead, alcohol)
Epidemiology[edit | edit source]
- Prevalence: 1% of gen. population
Classification[edit | edit source]
- mild mental retardation: IQ: 50-70, 6th grade, weak, need help
- moderate mental retardation: IQ: 35-49: 3rd grade, must live supervised
- severe mental retardation: IQ: 20-34: pre-school, must live in a nursing home
- profound mental retardation: IQ: < 20: infant, total care
DX[edit | edit source]
- IQ Testing (e.g. Hamburg-Wechsler IQ-test)
- Screen for secondary causes: genetic testing, PKU, imaging methods, CBC, glucose...
Management (long-term)[edit | edit source]
- Severity according to loss of adaptive function (not intelligence)
- Psychotherapy ( CBT, family-oriented therapy)
- Special education programs
- Control psychiatric symptoms if concurrent: e.g. SSRIs
DDx[edit | edit source]
- Specific learning disorder
- e.g. just problems with reading (dyslexia), math (dyscalculia), spelling, writing...
- are much more prevalent
- should be present for more than 6 months
- Hearing impairment, vision impairment, language impairment (e.g. English parallel)
- Dementia: principal difference is that mental retardation is a neurodevelopmental disorder, in dementia a previously neurodevelopmentally healthy person deteriorates
