Effects of iodine deficiency on mental and psychomotor abilities

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Abstract
Severe iodine deficiency may lead to endemic cretinism, which is characterized by a number of abnormalities, such as mental retardation, neurological abnormalities and hearing disorders. These abnormalities may occur in various combinations, but impaired mental development is always a component. The present study was attempted to determine whether there is also evidence of mental retardation, perhaps to a lesser degree, in that part of the population that manifest no symptoms of cretinism, the non‐cretins, in an iodine‐deficient area. Results of an extensive test battery have been collected in two village populations: one village in an area with severe iodine deficiency and a control village in a non‐iodine‐deficient area. Both villages were situated in Central Java, Indonesia. In the selected villages the total population between the ages of 6 and 20 years participated in this study. No evidence of significant mental retardation has been detected in the non‐cretin group in the severely iodine‐deficient area. Significant differences between the two populations, however, have been found with regard to a number of perceptual and neuro‐motor abilities.