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Congenital hypothyroidism (CH) is an endocrine diseasecaused by thyroid hormone deficiency, which leads to neurological disorders ifnot treated adequately. Purpose: Theaim of the present study was to analyze the motor performance of infants withCH who began treatment in the first month of life in comparison to healthycontrols. Methodology: Theevaluations involved 52 infants [25 withCH (mean age: 7 ± 3 months) and 27 without CH (mean age: 9 ± 2 months) infollow up at a neonatal reference center. The Bayley-III scale was used toevaluate fine and gross motor performance, which was categorized as competentor non-competent (risk or emerging risk). Age as the onset of treatment and thenormalization of thyroid hormones were also analyzed. Statistical analysisinvolved the chi-squared test (p < 0.05). Results: Among the infants with CH, treatment was begun by 17 daysof life in 25%, by 23 days in 50% and by 27 days in 75%. At the time ofevaluation, all infants had normal thyroid hormone levels. A greater frequencyof infants with CH were classified as having non-competent performance[non-competent gross motor performance: 32% of infants with CH vs. 11% ofcontrols (p = 0.065); non-competent fine motor performance: 36% of infants withCH vs. 7.5% of controls (p = 0.012)]. Conclusion:Infants with CH who initiated treatment in the first month of lifeexhibited gross motor performance comparable to infants without CH regardinggross motor skills, but a poorer performance regarding fine motor skills.

hypothyroidism congenital; motor performance