ArticlePLoS neglected tropical diseases2021
Assessing early child development and its association with stunting and schistosome infections in rural Zimbabwean children using the Griffiths Scales of Child Development.
Article in PLoS neglected tropical diseases, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 22 citations in OpenAlex.
- Systematic review to evaluate a potential association between helminth infection and physical stunting in children.Parasites & vectors · 2022Pooled it
- District-level ecological analysis of the association between stunting and infectious diseases among children under 2 years in Rwanda, 2020-2024.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Article
- Hygiene behaviours are critical for addressing neglected tropical diseases.Nature human behaviour · 2025Article
- Schistosomiasis transmission in Zimbabwe: Modelling based on machine learning.Infectious Disease Modelling · 2024Article
- Awareness towards urinary schistosomiasis and its relation with active infection among primary school pupils and students in North Kordofan state, Sudan 2022.Parasite epidemiology and control · 2024Article
- Correlates of early child development among children with stunting: A cross-sectional study in Uganda.Maternal & child nutrition · 2024Article
- Article
- Contextual factors influencing schistosomiasis treatment and identification of delivery platforms for arpraziquantel in hard-to-reach areas and populations in Homa Bay County, Kenya.PLOS global public health · 2024Article
- The association of systemic inflammation and cognitive functions of pre-school aged children residing in aFrontiers in immunology · 2023Article
- The Kids Are Alright (?). Infants' Development and COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study.International journal of public health · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
There is a paucity of reference early childhood development (ECD) data at community level in rural Africa. Our objective was to conduct a comprehensive assessment of ECD in rural Zimbabwe and determine the impact of stunting and schistosome infections on ECD. Using the Griffiths Scales of Child Development, we conducted a cross sectional assessment of Eye and Hand Coordination (EHC), Personal-Social-Emotional (PSE), Language and Communication (LC), Foundations of Learning (FL) and Gross Motor (GM) domains and the summary General Development (GD) in 166 children aged 6-72 months. The effects of stunting, malnutrition and Schistosoma haematobium infection on ECD was determined. The impact of praziquantel curative treatment of schistosome infection on the developmental scores was determined through a longitudinal follow up at 6 and 12 months. From an initial 166 children, 11 were found to have developmental deficits warranting further investigation. Of the remaining 155, 58.7% recorded a good (≥ average) score for the overall General Development (GD). Proportions of children scoring above the cut-off (≥ average) for each domain were GM (84.5%), PSE (80.6%), EHC (61.9%), FL (43.9%) and LC (44.5%). The prevalence of stunting was 26.8% (95% CI = 20.1%-34.8%) Scores for stunted children were significantly lower for EHC (p = 0.0042), GM (p = 0.0099), and GD (p = 0.0014) with the fraction of lower scores attributable to stunting being GM = 63.4%, GD = 46.6%, EHC = 45%, and LC = 21%. S. haematobium infection prevalence was 39.7% and mean infection intensity was 5.4 eggs/10 ml urine. Infected children had poorer cognitive performance scores for the FL (p = 0.0005) with 30.8% of poor FL attributable to the infection. Performance in all domains improved to the expected normal or above reference levels at 6 and 12 months post curative treatment of schistosome infections. Our study documented reference values for ECD in rural Zimbabwean children. The study detected deficiencies in the FL domain, which were more pronounced in children, infected with schistosomes, highlighting the need for provision of cognitive stimulation tools and access to early childhood foundation education. There is also need for improved child nutrition and treatment of schistosome infections to improve child development outcomes.
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