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The association between helminth infection and cognitive and motor function was investigated in school-age children in Java, Indonesia. 432 children from 42 primary schools participated in the study. Children were stratified by age and sex into two age groups, 8-9 years and 11-13 years. Children infected with hookworm performed significantly worse than children without hookworm infection in 6 of the 14 cognitive or motor tests. After controlling for school (as a random effect) plus age, socio-economic status and parental education, sex, stunting (height-for-age 0.05). Tests associated with helminths represented various functions of working memory. No significant associations between helminth infection and motor function were observed that could not be explained by chance. The results suggest that hookworm infection can have a significant adverse effect on children's working memory which may have consequences for a child's reasoning ability and reading comprehension. Although the results are only associational, the fact that differences in cognition were observed at baseline imply that preventing infection with helminths in school-age children could be of benefit.
Sakti et al. (Sat,) studied this question.
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