Tsai Song-Yen, Chou Hung-Yi, The Hee-Wen, Chen Chao-Meei, Chen Chien-Jen
Department of Neurology, Tzu-Ai General Hospital, 321-90 Shin-Sur, Shilo, Yunlin, Taiwan.
Neurotoxicology. 2003 Aug;24(4-5):747-53. doi: 10.1016/S0161-813X(03)00029-9.
This cross-sectional study examined the possible influence on the development of cognitive function among adolescents due to long-term arsenic exposure. Forty-nine junior school students drinking arsenic-containing well water and 60 controls matched with age, sex, education, body height, body weight, body mass index, and socioeconomic status were compared. The former was divided into two groups: high and low exposure, with mean cumulative arsenic levels of 520629.0+/-605824.2 and 13782.2+/-12886.0 ppm, respectively. Four neurobehavioral tests including continuous performance test (CPT), symbol digit (SD), pattern memory (PM) and switching attention (SA) were applied. A strong correlation between age and education caused collinearity in the multiple regression model (r=0.84, P<0.0001). Only education and sex, excluding age, were entered into the model as covariates. Pattern memory and switching attention were significantly affected by long-term cumulative exposure to arsenic after adjusting for education and sex. It is suggested that the arsenic levels in the well water may be monitored extensively, but if there is no intervention, then neurobehavioral function will not be protected. Limitations of the current study require replication of this effect in other studies to confirm this conclusion.
这项横断面研究调查了长期砷暴露对青少年认知功能发育的可能影响。研究比较了49名饮用含砷井水的初中生和60名在年龄、性别、教育程度、身高、体重、体重指数和社会经济地位方面相匹配的对照组。前者被分为两组：高暴露组和低暴露组，平均累积砷水平分别为520629.0±605824.2 ppm和13782.2±12886.0 ppm。应用了四项神经行为测试，包括连续操作测试（CPT）、符号数字（SD）、图案记忆（PM）和注意力转换（SA）。年龄和教育程度之间的强相关性导致多元回归模型中出现共线性（r = 0.84，P < 0.0001）。仅将教育程度和性别（不包括年龄）作为协变量纳入模型。在对教育程度和性别进行调整后，图案记忆和注意力转换受到长期累积砷暴露的显著影响。建议广泛监测井水中的砷含量，但如果不进行干预，神经行为功能将无法得到保护。本研究的局限性需要在其他研究中重复这一效应以证实这一结论。
