Decline in processing speed tells only half the story: Developmental delay in children living with sickle cell disease

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Walker, Elise Jade, Kirkham, Fenella Jane and Hood, Anna Marie (2024) Decline in processing speed tells only half the story: Developmental delay in children living with sickle cell disease. Children, 11 (3). ISSN 2227-9067

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Abstract

Children with sickle cell disease (SCD) may experience cognitive difficulties, including slowed processing speed. Thus, we investigated if processing speed changes over time. From 1992–2001, 103 participants with SCD aged 3–16 years (n ≤ 8.99 = 45; n ≥ 9.00 = 58) completed cognitive assessments. MRI was available for 54 participants. Between 1992–2002, 58 participants consented to one or two further assessments. A repeated measures regression using linear mixed-effects modelling determined longitudinal changes in processing speed index (PSI), examining the interaction between age (continuous variable) and timepoint (i.e., assessment 1 or 3) and controlling for MRI infarct status (i.e., no infarct, silent infarct, or stroke). Those aged ≤8.99 and ≥9.00 at first assessment experienced PSI decline. Declines were most prominent for the processing speed coding subtest, with a significant interaction between timepoint and age, t(31) = 2.64, p = 0.01. This decline may reflect a developmental delay, likely due to disease progression, with slower improvements in processing speed. Although there have been significant improvements in SCD treatments, mostly in high-income countries, processing speed still remains a target; thus, incorporating clinical monitoring of processing speed may help identify delay and allow for early intervention.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: Data Availability Statement: The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to concerns over confidentiality.
Uncontrolled Keywords: sickle cell disease,processing speed,longitudinal,delay,decline,cognition,pediatrics, perinatology, and child health ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/2700/2735
Faculty \ School: Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Norwich Medical School
Related URLs:
Depositing User: LivePure Connector
Date Deposited: 20 Oct 2025 09:30
Last Modified: 27 Oct 2025 19:30
URI: https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/100723
DOI: 10.3390/children11030277

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