Asymptomatic Plasmodium falciparum infection and poor school performance in primary school children in the Volta Region of Ghana

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to evaluate the association between asymptomatic Plasmodium falciparum infection and poor intellectual development in primary school children in the Volta Region of Ghana.METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study conducted among children from 5 primary schools in 3 districts in the Volta region of Ghana. Questionnaires were administered, and blood samples collected for malaria investigation using Rapid diagnostic test (RDT) and microscopy. School performance was used to assess intellectual development in the children. Arithmetic was the subject of choice for the standardized test. Pearson chi square test was used to evaluate the association between Plasmodium falciparum and poor school performance. Multivariate analysis was used to identify factors independently associated with risk of poor school performance.RESULTS: Out of 550 children, 305(55.45%) tested positive for malaria with RDT and 249(45.27%) positive with microscopy. Children from the Evangelical Presbyterian (EP) primary school in Afegame had the highest prevalence of Plasmodium falciparum infection with both RDT (92, 74.80%) and microscopy (73, 59.35%). Two hundred and fifteen students (39.09%) failed the arithmetic school test. EP primary school in Afegame recorded the highest frequency of poor school performance among the children (53.66%). School performance was significantly associated with RDT malaria diagnosis with failure rate higher among children who were RDT positive (135, 62.79%, p=0.005). Lower mean scores were seen in children with positive RDT result (47.35, [SD 30.85], p=0.021). Plasmodium falciparum infection (RDT) was independently associated with increased risk of poor school performance (AOR, 1.92, p=0.003).CONCLUSION: An urgent scale-up of malaria control program targeting school-going children in this region is needed to mitigate the possible negative impact of Plasmodium falciparum infection on their intellectual development.

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Socioeconomic Risk Factors for Plasmodium falciparum Infection in Primary School Children in Three Districts of the Volta Region Of Ghana

Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved ◽

10.1353/hpu.2019.0080 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 30 (3) ◽

pp. 1165-1183

Author(s):

Verner N. Orish ◽

Isaac Agbemafle ◽

Edem K. Obum ◽

Onyekachi S. Onyeabor ◽

Adekunle O. Sanyaolu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Risk Factors ◽

Plasmodium Falciparum ◽

Primary School ◽

School Children ◽

Falciparum Infection ◽

Primary School Children ◽

Plasmodium Falciparum Infection ◽

Volta Region ◽

Socioeconomic Risk ◽

Socioeconomic Risk Factors

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High Prevalence of Asymptomatic Plasmodium falciparum Infection in Primary School Children in the Volta Region of Ghana

TEXILA INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH ◽

10.21522/tijph.2013.05.03.art004 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 5 (3) ◽

pp. 24-35 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Verner N Orish

Keyword(s):

Plasmodium Falciparum ◽

Primary School ◽

School Children ◽

Falciparum Infection ◽

Primary School Children ◽

Plasmodium Falciparum Infection ◽

High Prevalence ◽

Volta Region

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Academic performance and bullying in socially vulnerable students

Journal of Human Growth and Development ◽

10.7322/jhgd.127645 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 27 (1) ◽

pp. 19 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Marcela Almeida Zequinão ◽

Allana Alexandre Cardoso ◽

Jorge Luiz da Silva ◽

Pâmella De Medeiros ◽

Marta Angélica Lossi Silva ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Children And Adolescents ◽

School Performance ◽

School Bullying ◽

Primary School Children ◽

Negative Consequences ◽

Regular Feature ◽

Witnessing Violence ◽

Poor School Performance ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Poor School

Introduction: School bullying is characterized by over time repetitiveness of aggression, by the intentional injuring or causing suffering to another, and by the imbalance of power between the participants. This is not a new phenomenon, because the recurring situation of violence between peers at school has probably been a regular feature throughout human history. Involvement in school bullying can have negative consequences, including for the students´ teaching-learning process, in which those involved may have troubles such as failing, dropping out, as well as episodes of indiscipline. Objective: Identify the school performance of children and adolescents in a socially vulnerable situation, as well as to analyse the possible relationships of this performance with participation in the situations of violence that characterize school bullying. Method: 375 primary school children and adolescents of both genders aged between 8 and 16 years participated in the study. The instruments used were School Performance Test, Sociometric Scale and, Questionnaire for the Study of Violence Among Peers. The data were analysed using ANOVA Two-way test and Spearman correlation. Results: The present study indicates that children and adolescents in a socially vulnerable situation had results that were below expectations with respect to school development and performance in the three subtests – writing, arithmetic, and reading – in both genders and in different age groups. In an intra and extra analysis group, there was a significant difference between female children and adolescents in all subtests. However, the same was not observed among boys. There was also a relationship between poor school performance and participation in bullying situations, in which it was found that the score on the writing subtest was negatively correlated with practicing aggression and witnessing violence at school. A similar result occurred in relation to the reading subtest. The arithmetic subtest score, in turn, correlated negatively with the three forms of participation in situations of school violence: to assault, suffer abuse, and witnessing violence against colleagues. Finally, the total score obtained in SPT negatively and significantly correlated with practicing aggression and witnessing violence. Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, it was found that most children and adolescents in a socially vulnerable condition showed a lower school performance level than expected for their year attending. Allied to these results, it was found that teenage girls showed better performance than children of the same gender did. Moreover, there is a relationship between poor school performance and participation in bullying situations in different roles: victim, bully, and bystander.

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