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A population of 74 young adults born between 1 Jan. 1979 and 30 June 1985 who were screened at birth for congenital hypothyroidism received a questionnaire on their scholastic and occupational achievements in June 2003. The response rate was 74% (49 completed questionnaires and 8 postal returns). The patients' school achievements were similar to those of the general population, respectively 68.8% and 60.9% obtaining the French high school diploma. The number of patients on the labor market was relatively small, owing to ongoing studies. These results are strikingly better than those obtained in the pre-screening era, thereby validating newborn screeningfor congenital hypothyroidism.

Unlabelled: Assessment of school performance provides an excellent index of adequacy of therapy of congenital hypothyroidism., Patients and Methods: Scholarly achievement of 73 children with congenital hypothyroidism screened and followed-up in our clinic was evaluated by comparison to national tests calculated from a wide random sample. The 73 children were divided into three groups: 31 patients belonging to the CE2 class (third primary school class) (group 1); 13 patients belonging to the 6th class (first secondary school class) having already passed CE2 tests (group 2); and 16 patients also belonging to the 6th class but not having passed CE2 tests (group 3)., Results: The youngest patients showed better results in French than national means, with similar results in mathematics. The intermediate aged patients showed comparable scores to the national mean in both tests. The oldest patients showed significantly less achievement in mathematics, and somewhat (but not markedly) less achievement in French. Etiology of hypothyroidism did not seem to be a prognostic factor, with the athyreotic patients having better results in CE2 than ectopic ones. Age at onset of treatment and the duration of treatment before normalization of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) seemed to represent the main prognostic factors as does compliance to treatment, which depends on socioeconomic levels of families., Conclusion: Encouraging results are now obtained in those patients who have been screened in the neonatal period and treated very early. Compliance to the treatment remains an important factor of prognosis.