Cognitive and Behaviour Dysfunction of Children with Neurocysticercosis: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Eighty-three confirmed cases of neurocysticercosis diagnosed as per modified delBrutto criteria were enrolled in the study (Group-I) to observe cognitive and behavioural changes. Controls consisted of two groups: children with idiopathic generalized tonic-clonic seizure (Group-II) and normal children with non-specific cough (Group-III). Cases and controls were subjected to cognitive and behaviour assessment. There was significant difference in the intelligence quotient (IQ) of cases in domains of visual perception, immediate recall, analysis synthesis and reasoning, verbal ability, memory and spatial ability. In the age group of 6-18 years, cases had significantly more behaviour problems than control without seizure, in domains of anxious depressed, withdrawn depressed, somatic problems, social problems and rule-breaking behaviour. Neurocysticercosis causes decline in cognitive function and behaviours in older children, which should be recognized early for appropriate management and to avoid undue parental anxiety.

A systematic review of tools used to screen and assess for externalising behaviour symptoms in low and middle income settings

“…( 2013 ), performed translations and back-translations, expert review and a pilot to validate a tool whereas a study in India exploring behaviour dysfunction in children used the CBCL with absolutely no details about its adaptation and validation for use in India (Prasad et al . 2014 ).…”

Cognitive and behavioral profile of treatment-naïve children aged 6–14 years with neurocysticercosis from North India

“…NCC has been implicated in cognitive impairment, behavioral, and other neuropsychiatric manifestations in adults and children. [ 5 6 8 10 ] NCC is an endemic infection that manifests clinically only when the host develops an inflammatory response to the parasite. [ 2 ] This raises serious concerns on the prevalence of silent or asymptomatic NCC in endemic areas.…”

“…The verbal intelligence scores were statistically comparable in the present study although there was a trend of lower scores in the domain of information, comprehension, analogies, and vocabulary subscales. Our study findings are consistent with the previous study by Prasad et al .,[ 8 ] where the total IQ scores were comparable between children with NCC, children with idiopathic epilepsy, and healthy controls. On domain-wise analysis, authors have reported that children with NCC lagged behind in domains of concept formation; analysis, synthesis, and reasoning; verbal ability; and memory and spatial ability.…”

“…Learning disability (28%), behavioral changes (12%), and psychomotor involution (8%) were observed among Brazilian children with NCC. [ 7 ] In a study by Prasad et al .,[ 8 ] it was observed that children aged 6–18 years with NCC had significantly more behavioral problems than healthy controls. However, behavioral and cognitive problems in children could be influenced by the type of seizure, duration of seizure, and nature of antiepileptic drugs.…”

Pathogenesis ofTaenia soliumtaeniasis and cysticercosis

“…Even so, the association between NCC and cognitive impairment has been demonstrated multiple times. Cognitive impairment may be present in up to 87·5% of patients with NCC, and it also associated with poorer quality of life .…”