Neuropsychological functioning and academic abilities in patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis

Abstract

Background The involvement of the central nervous system is not rare in rheumatoid diseases. Even though children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) may face academic difficulties until adulthood, very few studies have evaluated potential cognitive disorders in these patients. The present research aims to thoroughly investigate the cognitive and neuropsychological functioning of these patients. Methods We measured the cognitive profile of JIA patients via their neuropsychological profile, implicit memory and social cognition skills, and estimated their academic performance using reading and mathematics tests. We recruited 21 children with JIA aged 6 to 17 years-old (M = 11.01, SD = 3.30) and 21 healthy children matched in age, gender, academic level (same school class) and socioeconomic status. Results Our results showed that the cognitive profile and estimated academic ability of JIA patients are similar to those of their peers. These results support the hypothesis that children with JIA have the same cognitive predispositions to succeed at school as any other pupil. Conclusion Comparing our results with the existing literature, we propose complementary hypotheses for further research. Longitudinal studies seem to be necessary to understand the psychosocial and cognitive processes involved in the development of children with JIA.

Characterizing Neurocognitive Impairment in Juvenile Fibromyalgia Syndrome: Subjective and Objective Measures of Dyscognition

“…Furthermore, to put this into the context of other rheumatic diseases, this is similar to the reported prevalence of cognitive dysfunction reported in systemic lupus erythematosus (ranging from 14 to 79%), which tends to affect executive functioning, visual organization and visual-motor functioning and psychomotor speed ( 77 , 78 ). In contrast, children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) have normal neurocognitive functioning ( 79 , 80 ), unless pain is a predominant feature of their disease. In a study by Upadhyay et al pain severity was associated with poorer cognitive function among youth with JIA ( n = 16) ( 81 ).…”

The Brain Structural-Functional Vulnerability in Drug-Naive Children With Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis: Insights From the Hippocampus

“…The chronic inflammation condition in patients with JIA would damage the inflammatorymolecular messengers and affect neural activities of the peripheral and central nervous system (CNS), which is evidenced by a plethora of neurological and psychiatric sequelae, such as pain central sensitization, depression, anxiety, and sleeping disorders (Hanns et al, 2018;Arnstad et al, 2020). On top of that, the longterm revolving around pain, disability, fatigue, and unpredictable physical discomforts would also severely affect the academic performance and social activity involvement of the JIA children and adolescents (Granjon et al, 2021), therefore, leading to a high risk of aggravating mental problems. Accordingly, besides the medical attention for physical manifestations, additional psychological intervention should also be considered; meanwhile, a better understanding of the mechanism of neural dysfunction in JIA would be very instructive for guiding therapeutic strategies.…”