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SAMPLE, DESIGN, & INTERVENTIONACHIEVEMENTMEASUREReading Test-Revised(GORT-R)OUTCOMEFowler (1988)Sample: N = 56 (28 school-aged children withhemoglobin SS sickle cell anemia enrolled in theComprehensive Sickle Cell Program at North CarolinaMemorial Hospital (NCMH) between Sept 1984 and Dec1985 who had no history or overt physical evidence ofstroke; 28 controls matched for sex, race, age, and SESrecruited from the NCMH Well Child Continuity andPediatric Walk-in Clinics; All children were BlackSickle Cell Measures: Illness severityStudy Design: Case-controlNeuropsychologicalEvaluation: WechslerIntelligence Scale forChildren-Revised(WISC-R) to testgeneral cognitive,language, visual-motor,and attentionalfunctioning;Developmental Test ofVisual-MotorIntegration (VMI) totest fine-motorcoordination and visualperceptualorganizationVisual attention:Kagan MatchingFamiliar FiguresSchool functioning:WRAT (gradeequivalents andstandard scores forreading, spelling, andarithmetic; Teacherquestionnaire fornumber of days absentin the previous year,number of gradesrepeated, specialservices received,number of gradesrepeated, and resultsfrom the most recentCalifornia AchievementTest (CAT)No significant differences between the children with sickle cell anemia andthe well comparison group on the neurologic/neurodevelopmental examThe control children performed significantly better on the WISC-R Codingsubset which assesses visual motor skill and speed.Children with sickle cell anemia (N = 22) completed the MatchingFamiliar Figures Test more quickly than their healthy peers (N = 20), butwith less accuracy, performing as a group in the fast/inaccurate(impulsive) performance category.Children with sickle cell anemia:o Averaged 3 ½ years behind expectations based on chronological age onvisual motor integration.o scored significantly lower on the WRAT Reading and Spelling teststhan the controlso Scored at the 38 th percentile on the CAT total battery while the controlsscored at the 54 th percentileo Were more likely to have repeated a grade (54%) than the controls(43%) although this difference was not statistically significanto Were more likely to be receiving academic special services (63%) thanthe controls (22%)Significant age by illness group interactions were noted in the WechslerIntelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) Digit Span (F = 5.31,p