Department of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa.
Department of Science, Mathematics and Technology Education, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa.
Afr Health Sci. 2020 Dec;20(4):1734-1741. doi: 10.4314/ahs.v20i4.25.
Effective HIV transmission prevention strategies have led to a growing population of vulnerable HIV- and antiretroviral-exposed infants in sub-Saharan Africa, however uncertainty exists regarding their development.
To determine the developmental outcomes of HIV-exposed (HE) infants in a low-income South African context, when compared to HIV-unexposed (HU) counterparts.
In this prospective cross-sectional, group comparison study, the development of 41 HE and 40 HU infants (mean age=8.4 months, SD=2.1 months) from a low-income context was assessed. Caregivers were interviewed using the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, Third Edition (Vineland-3) to evaluate infants' development.
Most HE participants had age-appropriate overall development (90.2%;n=37). Some HE participants, however, presented with delays in domains of communication (9.8%;n=4), daily living skills (2.4%;n=1), socialisation (19.5%;n=8), and motor development (7.3%;n=3). HU participants also demonstrated some domain-specific delays, thus delays were present in both groups. No statistically significant between-group differences regarding development were found.
Findings were reassuring and suggested that HE and HU participants had similar development. Developmental differences may, however, only emerge with age, therefore large-scale longitudinal research is recommended. It is suggested that the entire sample was vulnerable, highlighting the importance of developmental surveillance in low-income contexts, irrespective of HIV and antiretroviral exposure status.
有效的 HIV 传播预防策略导致撒哈拉以南非洲地区 HIV 和抗逆转录病毒暴露的脆弱婴儿数量不断增加，但他们的发育情况仍存在不确定性。
在低收入的南非背景下，与未暴露于 HIV 的婴儿（HU）相比，确定 HIV 暴露（HE）婴儿的发育结果。
在这项前瞻性的横向组间比较研究中，评估了来自低收入背景的 41 名 HE 和 40 名 HU 婴儿（平均年龄=8.4 个月，SD=2.1 个月）的发育情况。通过使用第三版 Vineland 适应行为量表（Vineland-3）对照顾者进行访谈，以评估婴儿的发育情况。
大多数 HE 参与者的整体发育均达到年龄适宜水平（90.2%；n=37）。然而，一些 HE 参与者在沟通（9.8%；n=4）、日常生活技能（2.4%；n=1）、社交（19.5%；n=8）和运动发育（7.3%；n=3）等领域存在延迟。HU 参与者也表现出一些特定领域的延迟，因此两组都存在延迟。未发现两组之间在发育方面存在统计学上显著的差异。
研究结果令人安心，表明 HE 和 HU 参与者的发育相似。然而，发育差异可能仅随着年龄的增长而出现，因此建议进行大规模的纵向研究。研究结果表明整个样本都很脆弱，这突出了在低收入环境中进行发育监测的重要性，无论 HIV 和抗逆转录病毒暴露状况如何。
