Dataset Information

Mass deworming for improving health and cognition of children in endemic helminth areas: A systematic review and individual participant data network meta-analysis.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Soil transmitted (or intestinal) helminths and schistosomes affect millions of children worldwide.

Objectives

To use individual participant data network meta-analysis (NMA) to explore the effects of different types and frequency of deworming drugs on anaemia, cognition and growth across potential effect modifiers.

Search methods

We developed a search strategy with an information scientist to search MEDLINE, CINAHL, LILACS, Embase, the Cochrane Library, Econlit, Internet Documents in Economics Access Service (IDEAS), Public Affairs Information Service (PAIS), Social Services Abstracts, Global Health CABI and CAB Abstracts up to March 27, 2018. We also searched grey literature, websites, contacted authors and screened references of relevant systematic reviews.

Selection criteria

We included randomised and quasirandomised deworming trials in children for deworming compared to placebo or other interventions with data on baseline infection.

Data collection and analysis

We conducted NMA with individual participant data (IPD), using a frequentist approach for random-effects NMA. The covariates were: age, sex, weight, height, haemoglobin and infection intensity. The effect estimate chosen was the mean difference for the continuous outcome of interest.

Results

We received data from 19 randomized controlled trials with 31,945 participants. Overall risk of bias was low. There were no statistically significant subgroup effects across any of the potential effect modifiers. However, analyses showed that there may be greater effects on weight for moderate to heavily infected children (very low certainty evidence).

Authors' conclusions

This analysis reinforces the case against mass deworming at a population-level, finding little effect on nutritional status or cognition. However, children with heavier intensity infections may benefit more. We urge the global community to adopt calls to make data available in open repositories to facilitate IPD analyses such as this, which aim to assess effects for the most vulnerable individuals.

SUBMITTER: Welch VA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8356492 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Mass deworming for improving health and cognition of children in endemic helminth areas: A systematic review and individual participant data network meta-analysis.

Welch Vivian A VA Ghogomu Elizabeth E Hossain Alomgir A Riddle Alison A Gaffey Michelle M Arora Paul P Dewidar Omar O Salam Rehana R Cousens Simon S Black Robert R Hollingsworth T Déirdre TD Horton Sue S Tugwell Peter P Bundy Donald D Castro Mary Christine MC Elliott Alison A Friis Henrik H Le Huong T HT Liu Chengfang C Rousham Emily K EK Rohner Fabian F King Charles C Sartono Erliyani E Supali Taniawati T Steinmann Peter P Webb Emily E Wieringa Franck F Winnichagoon Pattanee P Yazdanbakhsh Maria M Bhutta Zulfiqar A ZA Wells George G

Campbell systematic reviews 20191120 4

<h4>Background</h4>Soil transmitted (or intestinal) helminths and schistosomes affect millions of children worldwide.<h4>Objectives</h4>To use individual participant data network meta-analysis (NMA) to explore the effects of different types and frequency of deworming drugs on anaemia, cognition and growth across potential effect modifiers.<h4>Search methods</h4>We developed a search strategy with an information scientist to search MEDLINE, CINAHL, LILACS, Embase, the Cochrane Library, Econlit, I ...[more]

PMID: 37131850

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Project description:BackgroundMalaria and helminth infections are thought to negatively affect children's nutritional status and to impair their physical and cognitive development. Yet, the current evidence-base is weak. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of deworming against soil-transmitted helminthiasis and schistosomiasis on children's physical fitness, cognition and clinical parameters in a malaria-helminth co-endemic setting of Côte d'Ivoire.MethodsWe designed an intervention study with a 5-month follow-up among schoolchildren aged 5-14 years from Niablé, eastern Côte d'Ivoire. In late 2012, a baseline cross-sectional survey was conducted. Finger-prick blood, stool and urine samples were subjected to standardised, quality-controlled techniques for the diagnosis of Plasmodium spp., Schistosoma spp., soil-transmitted helminths and intestinal protozoa infections. Haemoglobin level was determined and anthropometric measurements were taken for appraisal of anaemia and nutritional status. Children underwent memory (digit span) and attention (code transmission) cognitive testing, and their physical fitness and strength were determined (20 m shuttle run, standing broad jump and grip strength test). All children were treated with albendazole (against soil-transmitted helminthiasis) and praziquantel (against schistosomiasis) after the baseline cross-sectional survey and again 2 months later. Five months after the initial deworming, the same battery of clinical, cognitive and physical fitness tests was performed on the same children.ResultsLower scores in strength tests were significantly associated with children with harbouring nutritional deficiencies. Surprisingly, boys infected with Schistosoma mansoni achieved longer jumping distances than their non-infected counterparts. Light-intensity infection with S. mansoni was associated with slightly better aerobic capacity. Deworming showed no effect on haemoglobin levels and anaemia, but children with moderate- to heavy-intensity Schistosoma infection at baseline gained weight more pronouncedly than non-infected children. Interestingly, children with soil-transmitted helminth or Schistosoma infection at baseline performed significantly better in the sustained attention test than their non-infected counterparts at the 5-month follow-up.ConclusionsThis study revealed conflicting results regarding clinical parameters and cognitive behaviour of children after two rounds of deworming. We speculate that potential beneficial effects of deworming are likely to be undermined in areas where malaria is co-endemic and nutritional deficiencies are widespread.

Project description:BackgroundPoor social connections (eg, small networks, infrequent interactions, and loneliness) are modifiable risk factors for cognitive decline. Existing meta-analyses are limited by reporting aggregate responses, a focus on global cognition, and combining social measures into single constructs. We aimed to investigate the association between social connection markers and the rate of annual change in cognition (ie, global and domain-specific), as well as sex differences, using an individual participant data meta-analysis.MethodsWe harmonised data from 13 longitudinal cohort studies of ageing in North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. Studies were eligible for inclusion if they had baseline data for social connection markers and at least two waves of cognitive scores. Follow-up periods ranged from 0 years to 15 years across cohorts. We included participants with cognitive data for at least two waves and social connection data for at least one wave. We then identified and excluded people with dementia at baseline. Primary outcomes were annual rates of change in global cognition and cognitive domain scores over time until final follow-up within each cohort study analysed by use of an individual participant data meta-analysis. Linear mixed models within cohorts used baseline social connection markers as predictors of the primary outcomes. Effects were pooled in two stages using random-effects meta-analyses. We assessed the primary outcomes in the main (partially adjusted) and fully adjusted models. Partially adjusted models controlled for age, sex, and education; fully adjusted models additionally controlled for diabetes, hypertension, smoking, cardiovascular risk, and depression.FindingsOf the 40 006 participants in the 13 cohort studies, we excluded 1392 people with dementia at baseline. 38 614 individual participants were included in our analyses. For the main models, being in a relationship or married predicted slower global cognitive decline (b=0·010, 95% CI 0·000-0·019) than did being single or never married; living with others predicted slower global cognitive (b=0·007, 0·002-0·012), memory (b=0·017, 0·006-0·028), and language (b=0·008, 0·000-0·015) decline than did living alone; and weekly interactions with family and friends (b=0·016, 0·006-0·026) and weekly community group engagement (b=0·030, 0·007-0·052) predicted slower memory decline than did no interactions and no engagement. Never feeling lonely predicted slower global cognitive (b=0·047, 95% CI 0·018-0·075) and executive function (b=0·047, 0·017-0·077) decline than did often feeling lonely. Degree of social support, having a confidante, and relationship satisfaction did not predict cognitive decline across global cognition or cognitive domains. Heterogeneity was low (I2=0·00-15·11%) for all but two of the significant findings (association between slower memory decline and living with others [I2=58·33%] and community group engagement, I2=37·54-72·19%), suggesting robust results across studies.InterpretationGood social connections (ie, living with others, weekly community group engagement, interacting weekly with family and friends, and never feeling lonely) are associated with slower cognitive decline.FundingEU Joint Programme-Neurodegenerative Disease Research grant, funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council Australia, and the US National Institute on Aging of the US National Institutes of Health.

Project description:BackgroundAppropriate health and nutrition interventions to prevent long-term adverse effects in children are necessary before two years of age. One such intervention may include population-based deworming, recommended as of 12 months of age by the World Health Organization in soil-transmitted helminth (STH)-endemic areas; however, the benefit of deworming has been understudied in early preschool-age children.Methodology/principal findingsA randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was conducted to determine the effect of deworming (500 mg single-dose crushed mebendazole tablet) on growth in one-year-old children in Iquitos, Peru. Children were enrolled during their routine 12-month growth and development clinic visit and followed up at their 18 and 24-month visits. Children were randomly allocated to: Group 1: deworming at 12 months and placebo at 18 months; Group 2: placebo at 12 months and deworming at 18 months; Group 3: deworming at both 12 and 18 months; or Group 4: placebo at both 12 and 18 months (i.e. control group). The primary outcome was weight gain at the 24-month visit. An intention-to-treat approach was used. A total of 1760 children were enrolled between September 2011 and June 2012. Follow-up of 1563 children (88.8%) was completed by July 2013. STH infection was of low prevalence and predominantly light intensity in the study population. All groups gained between 1.93 and 2.05 kg on average over 12 months; the average difference in weight gain (kg) compared to placebo was: 0.05 (95% CI: -0.05, 0.17) in Group 1; -0.07 (95%CI: -0.17, 0.04) in Group 2; and 0.04 (95%CI: -0.06, 0.14) in Group 3. There was no statistically significant difference in weight gain in any of the deworming intervention groups compared to the control group.ConclusionsOverall, with one year of follow-up, no effect of deworming on growth could be detected in this population of preschool-age children. Low baseline STH prevalence and intensity and/or access to deworming drugs outside of the trial may have diluted the potential effect of the intervention. Additional research is required to overcome these challenges and to contribute to strengthening the evidence base on deworming.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov (NCT01314937).

Project description:Soil Transmitted Helminth (STH) infections affect over 1.5 billion people worldwide. Although prevalent in all age groups, school aged children are a high-risk groups for STH infections. In Bhutan, epidemiological data on STH were collected from western Bhutan in 2003, which found a prevalence of 16.5%. However, little evidence is available on the prevalence of infection at national level. Therefore, this study was conducted with the aim to assess the prevalence and intensity of STH infections, and identify significant correlates of STH among students. A school-based survey was conducted in three regions of Bhutan. Two-stage cluster sampling was adopted to select a sample of 1500 students from 24 schools, in equal proportion from three regions of the country. A total of 1456 (97%) students were interviewed and their stool sample examined for the presence of parasites. Mini-FLOTAC technique was used to detect the parasite eggs/ova. The prevalence of any STH infection was 1.4%, with 0.8% Ascaris lumbricoides, 0.5% Trichuris trichiura and 0.2% hookworms. The eastern region had the highest prevalence at 2.3%. Except for one student who had moderate intensity of A. lumbricoides, the rest had light infection. Any STH presence was significantly associated with father's occupation, father's education level, type of house and the flooring of the house in which students reported to live. No significant associations were observed between water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) variables measured and presence of any STH infection. The prevalence of STH was found to be very low with primarily light intensity in this study. Nonetheless, it was also found that the sanitation situation is not ideal in the country, with several students reporting constant or partial open defecation leading to environmental contamination. Based on this prevalence and in line with the WHO guideline, it is recommended that deworming be reduced to once a year in combination with concerted health education on proper hygiene and sanitation practice.

Dataset Information

Mass deworming for improving health and cognition of children in endemic helminth areas: A systematic review and individual participant data network meta-analysis.

Background

Objectives

Search methods

Selection criteria

Data collection and analysis

Results

Authors' conclusions

Publications

Mass deworming for improving health and cognition of children in endemic helminth areas: A systematic review and individual participant data network meta-analysis.

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