Table 1. Overview on background variables and comorbidities in the study population.
| All FASD children ( n = 81) | FASD children without epilepsy or pathological EEG ( n = 63) | FASD children without epilepsy, pathological EEG, ADHD ( n = 30) | Control group ( n = 31) | p -Value | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boys | 48 (59%) | 37 (59%) | 10 (33%) | 14 (45%) | ns | |
| Girls | 33 (41%) | 26 (41%) | 20 (67%) | 17 (55%) | ||
| Age, y (SD) | 9.8 (2.3) | 9.9 (2.4) | 9.2 (2.5) | 10.5 (2.0) | ns | |
| Alcohol only | 50 (62%) | 40 (63.5%) | 22 (73.3%) | ns | ||
| Alcohol and other illicit drugs | 31 (38%) | 23 (36.5%) | 8 (26.7%) | |||
| Care base | ||||||
| Biological parents | 11 (13.6%) | 10 (15.9%) | 5 (16.7%) | ns | ||
| Foster care | 22 (64.2%) | 38 (60.3%) | 16 (53.3%) | |||
| Adopted | 18 (22.2%) | 15 (23.8%) | 9 (30%) | |||
| SES (Hollingshead four-factor index of SES) | SES 1 | 11 (16.2%) | 9 (17.6%) | 5 (21.7%) | ns | |
| SES 2 | 21 (30.9%) | 16 (31.4%) | 6 (26.1%) | |||
| SES 3 | 32 (47.1%) | 22 (43.1%) | 9 (39.1%) | |||
| SES 4 | (5.9%) | 4 (7.8%) | 3 (13.0%) | |||
| FASD subgroup | FAS/pFAS | 17 (21%) | 12 (19%) | 5 (16.7%) | ns | |
| SE | 25 (31%) | 20 (31.7%) | 7 (23.3%) | |||
| ND | 39 (48%) | 31 (49.2%) | 18 (60%) | |||
| Comorbidity | No. of children (%) | Type of epilepsy/epileptiform activity | ||||
| ADHD | ||||||
| Yes | 44 (54.3) | |||||
| No | 37 (45.7) | |||||
| Epilepsy | ||||||
| Yes | 6 (7.4) | Generalized epilepsy: 1 (17%) | ||||
| No | 75 (92.6) | Focal epilepsy: 5 (83%) | ||||
| Pathologic EEG | ||||||
| Yes | 17 (21) | Epileptiform activity (IEDs): 14/17 (82%) | ||||
| No | 64 (79) | Focal slowing: 3/17 (18%) | ||||
Abbreviations: ADHD, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder; EEG, electroencephalography; IEDs, interictal epileptic discharges; ND, neurobehavioral disorder; ns, not significant; SD, standard division; SE, static encephalopathy; SES, socioeconomic status.
Note: t -test for equality of means.