Minimal brain dysfunction in preschool age--risk for trouble in school?

In general health examinations of 2,447 4-year-old children in a certain area of southern Sweden, comprising 95.1% of the total population of that age, 52 children (2.1%) were diagnosed as having minimal brain dysfunction. After 7--9 years the children were reexamined and their parents and teachers were interviewed. Although no specific treatment, like stimulant drugs, was given, the children were much improved as they grew older: their hyperactivity had diminished, their behavior did not cause as much trouble, and their remaining neurological disturbances were small. However, the children manifested more problems in elementary school than other children, both regarding behavior, learning, slight neurological disturbances and visual disorders. Thus, the small group of children with minimal brain dysfunction symptoms in preschool age seem to run a certain risk of having trouble in school, although the symptoms are less conspicious as they grow and mature.