Cognitive Impairment in School-Age Children with Asymptomatic HIV Infection

Abstract

Previous studies have shown that there is a positive correlation between clinical expression of HIV-1 disease and deficits in the cognitive and neuropsychologic abilities in afflicted children. To date there are few studies regarding analysis of the cognitive and neuropsychologic development of HIV-positive, asymptomatic nonprogressor children (6-12 years of age) (long-survivors). The purpose of this study was to explore the differences in neuropsychologic development of asymptomatic HIV-positive school-age children compared with a seroreverted group. Evaluation was conducted in 8 children with asymptomatic or mild clinical signs of HIV infection compared with 8 seroreverted children. All tests were administered in three sessions by a trained specialist in neuropsychologic observation. The results of neuropsychologic testing suggested the presence of some learning disorders, as well as major memory and perception deficit. Most of the children tended to have levels of performance that were below normal values. The impairment could likely be the expression of a greater biologic vulnerability of HIV-positive children. Additional studies are necessary to define the risk factors and, hence, the protective factors that might support normal development of HIV-positive children.

HIV-Associated Cognitive Impairment in Perinatally Infected Children: A Meta-analysis

“…A few studies reported findings on components of executive function and working memory (for example; semantic fluency or attention) 21,28 , or on measures which encompasses executive function as part of the scales total scoring system (E.G: the KABC-II). There were a few studies who reported findings for processing speed (4/15) 4,21,28,30 and visual memory (3/15) 25,28,32 . The remainder of the studies only reported findings for overall or global cognition 22,24,31,33,34,38 .…”

Effects of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) on psychomotor performance in children with HIV disease

“…HIV-associated CNS disease in children is manifested by neurological [27] and neuropsychological [45] problems. Varying degrees of intellectual impairment have been documented in symptomatic children with HIV infection [17,18,25,32], while more specific neuropsychological deficits were found in the following domains: language [46], short-term memory [18], visual-spatial functioning [41], executive functioning [2], and fine motor control [3]. In addition, a significant proportion of HIV-infected infants show early cognitive and motor delays or declines that may be important indicators of HIV disease progression [8,23,26].…”

The burden and predictors of cognitive impairment among 6- to 8-year-old children infected and uninfected with HIV from Harare, Zimbabwe: A cross-sectional study

“…Reported neurocognitive deficits in children with HIV infection included general cognitive impairment, visual spatial, motor, and language expression and executive function deficits (Lowick, Sawry, & Meyers, 2012;Nozyce et al, 2006;Van, Mupuala, & Dow, 2008), depending on the type of psychometric tool or study group. Perceptive deficits were found in all the 8 asymptomatic Italian school-age participants in a study by Fundiro et al (Fundaro et al, 1998) and reported also by Smith et al among 114 American preschool children with HIV infection (Smith et al, 2000). In the latter study, children with symptomatic HIV infection scored significantly lower in perceptive performance, verbal, quantitative, and memory domains than did children without an AIDS-defining illness and those who were exposed but uninfected.…”