Neurocognitive impairment in Ugandan children with sickle cell anemia compared to sibling controls: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Introduction Neurocognitive function in Ugandan children aged 1-12 years with sickle cell anemia (SCA) were compared to their non-SCA siblings to identify risk factors for disease-associated impairment.Methods This cross-sectional neurocognitive function study of children with SCA (N=242) and non-SCA siblings (N=127) used age- and linguistically-appropriate standardized tests of cognition, executive function and attention for children ages 1-4 and 5-12 years. Test scores were converted to locally derived age-normalized z-scores. The SCA group underwent standardized stroke examination for prior stroke and transcranial doppler ultrasound (TCD) to determine stroke risk by arterial flow velocity.Results The SCA group was younger than siblings (mean ages 5.46±3.0 versus 7.11±3.51 years, respectively; p