ArticleInfectious diseases of poverty2023
Neurocognitive and mental health outcomes in children with tungiasis: a cross-sectional study in rural Kenya and Uganda.
Article in Infectious diseases of poverty, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 9 citations in OpenAlex.
- Parasitic Infections and Associated Cognitive Outcome Among School-Aged Children in Africa: A Systematic Review.Brain and behavior · 2026Pooled it
- Estimation of the global burden of tungiasis in endemic countries using a disability adjusted life-years modelling approach.BMC global and public health · 2026Article
- Visual cues attract adult Tunga penetrans (Siphonaptera: Tungidae).Journal of medical entomology · 2026Article
- Individual and household factors associated with tungiasis in a marginalized population in Karamoja, northeastern Uganda.Tropical medicine and health · 2026Article
- Beyond poverty, tungiasis is associated with family characteristics and parenting behavior: a case control study in Kenya.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Assessing the impact of tungiasis on children's quality of life in Kenya.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2025Article
- Dynamics of Tunga penetrans infections and severity of associated morbidity among pigs during the dry season in rural Uganda.Parasites & vectors · 2025Article
- Tungiasis among children in Kenya is associated with poor nutrition status, absenteeism, poor school performance and high impact on quality of life.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors at 6 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundTungiasis, a neglected tropical parasitosis, disproportionately affects children. Few empirical studies have reported neurocognitive and mental health outcomes of children with ectoparasitic skin diseases like tungiasis. Pathophysiology of tungiasis suggests it could detrimentally affect cognition and behaviour. This study pioneered the investigation of neurocognitive and mental health outcomes in children with tungiasis.
methodsThis was a multi-site cross-sectional study including 454 quasi-randomly sampled school-children aged 8-14 from 48 randomly selected schools in two counties in Kenya and a district in Uganda. The participants were stratified into infected and uninfected based on the presence of tungiasis. The infected were further classified into mild and severe infection groups based on the intensity of the infection. Adapted, validated, and standardized measures of cognition and mental health such as Raven Matrices and Child Behaviour Checklist were used to collect data. Statistical tests including a multilevel, generalized mixed-effects linear models with family link set to identity were used to compare the scores of uninfected and infected children and to identify other potential risk factors for neurocognitive and behavioural outcomes.
resultsWhen adjusted for covariates, mild infection was associated with lower scores in literacy [adjusted β(aβ) = - 8.9; 95% confidence interval (CI) - 17.2, - 0.6], language (aβ = - 1.7; 95% CI - 3.2, - 0.3), cognitive flexibility (aβ = - 6.1; 95% CI - 10.4, - 1.7) and working memory (aβ = - 0.3; 95% CI - 0.6, - 0.1). Severe infection was associated with lower scores in literacy (aβ = - 11.0; 95% CI - 19.3, - 2.8), response inhibition, (aβ = - 2.2; 95% CI - 4.2, - 0.2), fine motor control (aβ = - 0.7; 95% CI - 1.1, - 0.4) and numeracy (aβ = - 3; 95% CI - 5.5, - 0.4).
conclusionsThis study provides first evidence that tungiasis is associated with poor neurocognitive functioning in children. Since tungiasis is a chronic disease with frequent reinfections, such negative effects may potentially impair their development and life achievements.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.