Abstract
Background: There is little data on the long-term neurocognitive and educational outcomes among school-aged survivors of neonatal jaundice (NNJ) and hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) in Africa. This study investigates the long-term neurocognitive and educational outcomes and the correlates of these outcomes in school-aged survivors of NNJ or HIE in Kilifi, Kenya. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study on neurocognitive and educational outcomes among school-aged survivors (6–12 years) of NNJ (n = 134) and HIE (n = 107) and compared them to a community comparison group (n = 134). We assessed nonverbal intelligence, planning, working memory, attention, syntax, pragmatics, word-finding, memory, perceptual-motor, mathematical, and reading abilities. We also collected information on medical history, caregivers’ mental health, and family environment. Results: The survivors of NNJ had lower mean total scores in word-finding [F (1, 250) = 3.89, p = 0.050] and memory [F (1, 248) = 6.74, p = 0.010] than the comparison group. The survivors of HIE had lower mean scores in pragmatics [F (1, 230) = 6.61, p = 0.011] and higher scores higher scores in non-verbal reasoning [F (1, 225) =4.10, p = 0.044] than the comparison group. Stunted growth was associated with almost all the outcomes in HIE. Conclusion: Survivors of NNJ and HIE present with impairment in the multiple domains, which need to be taken into consideration in the planning of educational and rehabilitative services.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 578 |
| Pages (from-to) | 1-12 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | BMC Psychiatry |
| Volume | 20 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2 Dec 2020 |
Funding
This work was supported through the DELTAS Africa Initiative [DEL-15-003]. The DELTAS Africa Initiative is an independent funding scheme of the African Academy of Sciences (AAS)’s Alliance for Accelerating Excellence in Science in Africa (AESA) and supported by the New Partnership for Africa’s Development Planning and Coordinating Agency (NEPAD Agency) with funding from the Wellcome Trust [107769/Z/10/Z] and the UK government. The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and not necessarily those of AAS, NEPAD Agency, Wellcome Trust, or the UK government. No funding bodies had any role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Kenya Medical Research Institute | |
| New Partnership for Africa’s Development | |
| Wellcome Trust | 107769/Z/10/Z |
| Government of the United Kingdom | |
| New Partnership for Africa's Development | |
| African Academy of Sciences |
Keywords
- Children
- Disability
- Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy
- Neonatal jaundice
- Neurocognitive impairment
