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

Abstract

With long-term survival of children infected with HIV, information on cognitive function at school age is needed. To determine cognitive function among 6- to 8 year-old children exposed to HIV and to assess factors associated with cognitive impairment, we conducted a cross-sectional study from October 2010 to December 2011 among children whose mothers participated in a national HIV prevention program in Harare. Cognitive function was assessed using the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities (MSCA). Of the 306 assessed children, 32 (10%) were HIV infected, 121 (40%) exposed uninfected, and 153 (50%) unexposed uninfected. The mean (SD) General Cognitive Index for the whole study group was 82 (15). An overall of 49 (16%) out of the 306 children had cognitive impairment with no difference in general cognitive function among the three groups. Children with HIV infection scored lowest in perceptual performance domain, p = .028. Unemployed caregivers, child orphanhood and undernutrition were associated with impaired cognitive performance in univariate analysis. In multivariate analysis, caregiver unemployment status remained a factor associated with cognitive impairment with an ODDS ratio of 2.1 (95% CI 1.03-3.36). In a cohort of 6- to 8-year-olds, HIV infection did not show evidence of significant difference in general cognitive function. Children infected with HIV had major deficits in perceptive performance. Lower socioeconomic status was associated with cognitive impairment. In resource-constrained settings, strategies aimed at poverty alleviation and good nutritional management should complement early infant diagnosis and treatment of HIV in order to optimize neurocognitive potential.

Contemporary issues on the epidemiology and antiretroviral adherence of HIV‐infected adolescents in sub‐Saharan Africa: a narrative review

“…However, other studies point to subtle challenges in early language development being the possible effect of in utero exposure to ART use in pregnancy [ 189 , 190 ]. Furthermore, adolescents with HIV infection are frequently exposed to adverse environmental influences including poverty, stress, violence and maternal ill-health, which could also contribute to neurocognitive and psychiatric risk [ 191 , 192 ]. These findings suggest a multifactorial aetiology to neurocognitive and behavioural outcomes among this vulnerable population, and there is the need for further research to ascertain the contributions of these individual risk factors.…”

Working Memory Profiles in HIV-Exposed, Uninfected and HIV-Infected Children: A Comparison with Neurotypical Controls

“…Investigations into the neurocognitive functioning of HIV-EU children have produced ambiguous findings. For example, there is some evidence that their neurocognition does not differ from that of neurotypical children (Kandawasvika et al, 2015), while other studies have found significant impairments in verbal functioning, sequencing, memory, and quantitative reasoning (Levenson et al, 1992; Brackis-Cott et al, 2009; Kerr et al, 2014). Kerr et al (2014) compared the neurocognitive functioning of HIV-EU children from Thailand ( n = 160) and Cambodia ( n = 202) to an unexposed control group ( n = 167).…”

Poorer Cognitive Performance in Perinatally HIV-Infected Children Versus Healthy Socioeconomically Matched Controls

“…However, despite comparable SES, pHEU children underperform on neuropsychological tests compared with HIV-unexposed children [2,5,23]. The studies using healthy children as controls were mostly from developing countries [2][3][4][5]24] or SESunmatched [11].…”