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Background: Children with persistent speech disorder (PSD) are at higher risk of difficulties with literacy, with some evidence suggesting an association with poorer educational attainment. However, studies to date have either used small clinical samples, which exclude children who have not been referred to clinical services, or relied on parent–teacher report of children's speech development. There is a need for an inclusive study to investigate the impact of PSD on educational outcomes using a population‐based sample and robust measures of speech development. Aim: Using a large prospective UK population‐based study—the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC)—this study investigated: (1) how children identified with PSD at age 8 years perform on educational attainment tests at ages 10–11 and 13–14 years in comparison with children without PSD; and (2) whether children identified with PSD at age 8 years are more likely to receive a label of special educational needs (SEN) in secondary school. Methods & Procedures: We examined the data for 263 children with PSD and 6399 controls who had speech assessed at age 8 years in a research clinic. Educational attainment was measured using data from English school standard attainment tests. Data on SEN categorization were obtained between 11 and 13 years of age. Children with PSD and controls were compared using regression analyses adjusted for biological sex, maternal age, verbal, performance and full‐scale IQ. Outcomes & Results: Children with PSD at age 8 years were more likely to achieve lower attainment scores at ages 10–11 years in English and mathematics and across all three subjects of English, mathematics and science at ages 13–14 years after controlling for biological sex and maternal education; score below target levels for English at both time points after controlling for verbal IQ, and at ages 13–14 years after controlling for performance IQ; and receive a label of SEN (typically for the category of cognition and learning needs or communication and interaction needs) in secondary school. Conclusions & Implications: PSD identified at age 8 years is associated with poor educational attainment at ages 10–11 and 13–14 years in the core subjects of English, mathematics and science. Children with PSD at age 8 years are more likely to be identified with SEN at ages 11–13 years, particularly cognition and learning needs, and communication and interaction needs. We need to be aware of the potential for the long‐term impact of PSD on educational attainment in providing appropriate and effective support throughout school. What this paper addsWhat is already known on the subjectSpeech‐sound disorder is associated with reading and spelling difficulties, with some evidence to suggest that PSD is associated with a higher risk of literacy difficulties. Limited evidence also suggests that speech‐sound disorder may be associated with poorer educational attainment. However, studies to date have used small clinical samples or parent–teacher report of speech development and there is a need to determine whether the association is observed in larger and more inclusive population‐based samples.What this paper adds to existing knowledgeThis prospective, longitudinal study of a large community‐based sample of English children has shown that PSD is associated with poorer educational attainment at the end of primary school and at ages 13–14 years. Children with PSD are also more likely to be identified as having SEN in secondary school, especially communication and interaction needs but also including cognition and learning needs.What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work?Understanding the long‐term implications of PSD on educational attainment highlights the importance of ongoing monitoring and support to enable children to reach their potential throughout primary and secondary school. The identification of children with a history of PSD during transition to secondary school will enable effective support to be put in place. The intervention for children with PSD should involve close collaboration between speech and language therapists and education professionals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Widespread subclinical iodine insufficiency has recently been reported in Europe, based on urinary iodine using World Health Organization/ Food and Agriculture Organization criteria, in particular among young women. Although urinary iodine concentration ( UIC) is a useful measurement of the iodine status in a population, it does not provide an insight into the habitual iodine intake of this population. This is compounded by the fact that very few iodine-specific food frequency questionnaires ( FFQ) have been validated so far. The present study aimed to develop and validate a new, simple, rapid survey tool to assess dietary iodine exposure in females of childbearing age. Methods Iodine was measured in a duplicate 24-h urine collection. Iodine intake was measured with duplicate 4-day semi-quantitative food diaries and the FFQ. Correlation, cross-classification and Bland-Altman analyses were used to estimate agreement, bias and the reliability of the method. The triangular (triad) method was used to calculate validity coefficients. Results Forty-three women, aged 19-49 years, took part in the validation of the 17-items FFQ. Median ( interquartile range) UIC was 74 (47-92) μg L−1, which is indicative of mild iodine insufficiency. The FFQ showed good agreement with food diaries with respect to classifying iodine intake (82% of subjects were classified in the same or adjacent quartile). The FFQ was moderately correlated with the food diaries ( rs = 0.45, P = 0.002) and urinary excretion in μg L−1 ( rs = 0.34, P = 0.025) but not in μg day−1 ( P = 0.316). The validity coefficients were 0.69, 0.66 and 0.52 for the food diaries, FFQ and urinary iodine excretion, respectively. Conclusions The FFQ provides a rapid and reliable estimate of dietary iodine exposure to identify those population subgroups at risk of iodine deficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder ( ADHD) symptoms and mathematics ability are associated, but little is known about the genetic and environmental influences underlying this association. Methods Data came from more than 6,000 twelve-year-old twin pairs from the UK population-representative Twins Early Development Study. Parents rated each twin's behaviour using a DSM- IV-based 18-item questionnaire of inattentive and hyperactive-impulsive ADHD symptoms. Mathematics tests based on the UK National Curriculum were completed by each twin. The twins also completed standardised tests of reading and general cognitive ability. Multivariate twin model fitting was applied. Results Inattentive and hyperactive-impulsive ADHD symptoms were highly heritable (67% and 73% respectively). Mathematics ability was moderately heritable (46%). Mathematics ability and inattentiveness showed a significantly greater phenotypic correlation ( rp = −.26) and genetic correlation ( rA = −.41) than mathematics ability and hyperactivity-impulsivity ( rp = −.18; rA = −.22). The genetic correlation between inattentiveness and mathematics ability was largely independent from hyperactivity-impulsivity, and was only partially accounted for by genetic influences related to reading and general cognitive ability. Conclusions Results revealed the novel finding that mathematics ability shows significantly stronger phenotypic and genetic associations with inattentiveness than with hyperactivity-impulsivity. Genetic associations between inattentiveness and mathematics ability could only partially be accounted for by hyperactivity-impulsivity, reading and general cognitive ability. Results suggest that mathematics ability is associated with ADHD symptoms largely because it shares genetic risk factors with inattentiveness, and provide further evidence for considering inattentiveness and hyperactivity-impulsivity separately. DNA markers for ADHD symptoms (especially inattentiveness) may also be candidate risk factors for mathematics ability and vice versa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]