Netherton syndrome; neuropsychological and psychosocial functioning of child and adult patients and their parents

BACKGROUND: Netherton syndrome is a rare severe skin disease. Clinical experience showed considerable psychosocial burdens among Netherton syndrome patients/families. Their (neuro)psychological functioning has never been investigated. OBJECTIVE: To investigate neuropsychological/psychosocial functioning of Netherton syndrome patients and parents. METHODS: A total of 12 Netherton syndrome patients and/or parents completed neuropsychological tests, semi-structured-interviews, and psychological-questionnaires. RESULTS: Intelligence results showed disharmonic profiles, with below-average scores on processing speed. Neuropsychological problems and unfavorable outcomes on health-related quality of life, illness-appearance-related problems, and negative social consequences among patients/parents were found. Psychopathological (emotional) problems were reported; stigmatization, bullying was common among Netherton syndrome patients. CONCLUSION: Compared with normative data, Netherton syndrome patients showed neuropsychological and psychosocial problems. Standard follow-up is necessary to identify problems at early stage.