Associations between selective attention and soil-transmitted helminth infections, socioeconomic status, and physical fitness in disadvantaged children in Port Elizabeth, South Africa: An observational study.
BACKGROUND:Socioeconomically deprived children are at increased risk of ill-health associated with sedentary behavior, malnutrition, and helminth infection. The resulting reduced physical fitness, growth retardation, and impaired cognitive abilities may impede children's capacity to pay attenti...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:15f270c8f86947399385bc76438e81d8 2023-05-15T15:14:59+02:00 Associations between selective attention and soil-transmitted helminth infections, socioeconomic status, and physical fitness in disadvantaged children in Port Elizabeth, South Africa: An observational study. Stefanie Gall Ivan Müller Cheryl Walter Harald Seelig Liana Steenkamp Uwe Pühse Rosa du Randt Danielle Smith Larissa Adams Siphesihle Nqweniso Peiling Yap Sebastian Ludyga Peter Steinmann Jürg Utzinger Markus Gerber 2017-05-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0005573 https://doaj.org/article/15f270c8f86947399385bc76438e81d8 EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC5436891?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0005573 https://doaj.org/article/15f270c8f86947399385bc76438e81d8 PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 11, Iss 5, p e0005573 (2017) Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 article 2017 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0005573 2022-12-31T13:29:22Z BACKGROUND:Socioeconomically deprived children are at increased risk of ill-health associated with sedentary behavior, malnutrition, and helminth infection. The resulting reduced physical fitness, growth retardation, and impaired cognitive abilities may impede children's capacity to pay attention. The present study examines how socioeconomic status (SES), parasitic worm infections, stunting, food insecurity, and physical fitness are associated with selective attention and academic achievement in school-aged children. METHODOLOGY:The study cohort included 835 children, aged 8-12 years, from eight primary schools in socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods of Port Elizabeth, South Africa. The d2-test was utilized to assess selective attention. This is a paper and pencil letter-cancellation test consisting of randomly mixed letters d and p with one to four single and/or double quotation marks either over and/or under each letter. Children were invited to mark only the letters d that have double quotation marks. Cardiorespiratory fitness was assessed via the 20 m shuttle run test and muscle strength using the grip strength test. The Kato-Katz thick smear technique was employed to detect helminth eggs in stool samples. SES and food insecurity were determined with a pre-tested questionnaire, while end of year school results were used as an indicator of academic achievement. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:Children infected with soil-transmitted helminths had lower selective attention, lower school grades (academic achievement scores), and lower grip strength (all p<0.05). In a multiple regression model, low selective attention was associated with soil-transmitted helminth infection (p<0.05) and low shuttle run performance (p<0.001), whereas higher academic achievement was observed in children without soil-transmitted helminth infection (p<0.001) and with higher shuttle run performance (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE:Soil-transmitted helminth infections and low physical fitness appear to hamper children's ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases 11 5 e0005573 |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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English |
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Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
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Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 Stefanie Gall Ivan Müller Cheryl Walter Harald Seelig Liana Steenkamp Uwe Pühse Rosa du Randt Danielle Smith Larissa Adams Siphesihle Nqweniso Peiling Yap Sebastian Ludyga Peter Steinmann Jürg Utzinger Markus Gerber Associations between selective attention and soil-transmitted helminth infections, socioeconomic status, and physical fitness in disadvantaged children in Port Elizabeth, South Africa: An observational study. |
topic_facet |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
description |
BACKGROUND:Socioeconomically deprived children are at increased risk of ill-health associated with sedentary behavior, malnutrition, and helminth infection. The resulting reduced physical fitness, growth retardation, and impaired cognitive abilities may impede children's capacity to pay attention. The present study examines how socioeconomic status (SES), parasitic worm infections, stunting, food insecurity, and physical fitness are associated with selective attention and academic achievement in school-aged children. METHODOLOGY:The study cohort included 835 children, aged 8-12 years, from eight primary schools in socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods of Port Elizabeth, South Africa. The d2-test was utilized to assess selective attention. This is a paper and pencil letter-cancellation test consisting of randomly mixed letters d and p with one to four single and/or double quotation marks either over and/or under each letter. Children were invited to mark only the letters d that have double quotation marks. Cardiorespiratory fitness was assessed via the 20 m shuttle run test and muscle strength using the grip strength test. The Kato-Katz thick smear technique was employed to detect helminth eggs in stool samples. SES and food insecurity were determined with a pre-tested questionnaire, while end of year school results were used as an indicator of academic achievement. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:Children infected with soil-transmitted helminths had lower selective attention, lower school grades (academic achievement scores), and lower grip strength (all p<0.05). In a multiple regression model, low selective attention was associated with soil-transmitted helminth infection (p<0.05) and low shuttle run performance (p<0.001), whereas higher academic achievement was observed in children without soil-transmitted helminth infection (p<0.001) and with higher shuttle run performance (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE:Soil-transmitted helminth infections and low physical fitness appear to hamper children's ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Stefanie Gall Ivan Müller Cheryl Walter Harald Seelig Liana Steenkamp Uwe Pühse Rosa du Randt Danielle Smith Larissa Adams Siphesihle Nqweniso Peiling Yap Sebastian Ludyga Peter Steinmann Jürg Utzinger Markus Gerber |
author_facet |
Stefanie Gall Ivan Müller Cheryl Walter Harald Seelig Liana Steenkamp Uwe Pühse Rosa du Randt Danielle Smith Larissa Adams Siphesihle Nqweniso Peiling Yap Sebastian Ludyga Peter Steinmann Jürg Utzinger Markus Gerber |
author_sort |
Stefanie Gall |
title |
Associations between selective attention and soil-transmitted helminth infections, socioeconomic status, and physical fitness in disadvantaged children in Port Elizabeth, South Africa: An observational study. |
title_short |
Associations between selective attention and soil-transmitted helminth infections, socioeconomic status, and physical fitness in disadvantaged children in Port Elizabeth, South Africa: An observational study. |
title_full |
Associations between selective attention and soil-transmitted helminth infections, socioeconomic status, and physical fitness in disadvantaged children in Port Elizabeth, South Africa: An observational study. |
title_fullStr |
Associations between selective attention and soil-transmitted helminth infections, socioeconomic status, and physical fitness in disadvantaged children in Port Elizabeth, South Africa: An observational study. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Associations between selective attention and soil-transmitted helminth infections, socioeconomic status, and physical fitness in disadvantaged children in Port Elizabeth, South Africa: An observational study. |
title_sort |
associations between selective attention and soil-transmitted helminth infections, socioeconomic status, and physical fitness in disadvantaged children in port elizabeth, south africa: an observational study. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0005573 https://doaj.org/article/15f270c8f86947399385bc76438e81d8 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 11, Iss 5, p e0005573 (2017) |
op_relation |
http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC5436891?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0005573 https://doaj.org/article/15f270c8f86947399385bc76438e81d8 |
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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0005573 |
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PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
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11 |
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5 |
container_start_page |
e0005573 |
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