Abstract:
Background: There is little data on the long-term neurocognitive and educational
outcomes among school-aged survivors of neonatal jaundice (NNJ) and hypoxic-ischemic
encephalopathy (HIE) in Africa. This study investigates the long-term neurocognitive and
educational outcomes and the correlates of these outcomes in school-aged survivors of
NNJ or HIE in Kilifi, Kenya.
Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study on neurocognitive and educational
outcomes among school-aged survivors (6-12 years) of NNJ (n = 134) and HIE (n = 107)
and compared them to a community comparison group (n = 134). We assessed nonverbal
intelligence, planning, working memory, attention, syntax, pragmatics, word-finding,
memory, perceptual-motor, mathematical, and reading abilities. We also collected
information on medical history, caregivers' mental health, and family environment.
Results: The survivors of NNJ had lower mean total scores in word-finding [F (1, 250) =
3.89, p = 0.050] and memory [F (1, 248) = 6.74, p = 0.010] than the comparison group.
The survivors of HIE had lower mean scores in pragmatics [F (1, 230) = 6.61, p = 0.011]
and higher scores higher scores in non-verbal reasoning [F (1, 225) =4.10, p = 0.044] than
the comparison group. Stunted growth was associated with almost all the outcomes in
HIE.
Conclusion: Survivors of NNJ and HIE present with impairment in the multiple domains,
which need to be taken into consideration in the planning of educational and rehabilitative
services.