Hadidjaja P, Bonang E, Suyardi M A, Abidin S A, Ismid I S, Margono S S
Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Indonesia, Jakarta.
Am J Trop Med Hyg. 1998 Nov;59(5):791-5. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.1998.59.791.
The prevalence rate of ascariasis in primary school children in northern Jakarta, Indonesia varies from 60% to 90%. An association between helminthic infection and educational achievement has long been recognized. This study was carried out in the northern part of Jakarta among primary school children 6-8 years of age. Treatment of ascariasis and health education were used as the interventions. Before the interventions, basic data on socioeconomic status, epidemiology, infection with Ascaris lumbricoides, nutritional status, and cognitive function were collected. After the interventions, only data on infection with A. lumbricoides, nutritional status, and cognitive function were collected. The children were divided into five groups. Group I was given an anthelminthic (mebendazole), group II was provided with health education, group III was given an antihelminthic and provided with health education, group IV was given a placebo (controls), and group V consisted of egg-negative children, who also served as controls. Data from 336 students were analyzed by analysis of covariance. Parasitologic examinations showed a mean prevalence rate of 58.4% for A. lumbricoides infection in the pre-intervention children and a mean prevalence rate of 40.6% in the post-intervention children. Concerning nutritional status, approximately 80% of the children showed good scores in the pre- and post-treatment data, and only a small percentage (0.9-16.2%) showed mild or moderate malnutrition. No significant difference was found between the pre- and post-treatment nutritional status. The results of the cognitive test showed that the group treated with mebendazole showed significant improvement in the Colored Progressive Matrices and Coding test. Children also showed an improvement in their learning ability, concentration, and eye-hand coordination after five months of receiving this intervention.
印度尼西亚雅加达北部小学生蛔虫病的患病率在60%至90%之间。蠕虫感染与学业成绩之间的关联早已得到认可。本研究在雅加达北部6至8岁的小学生中开展。采用蛔虫病治疗和健康教育作为干预措施。在干预之前，收集了关于社会经济状况、流行病学、蛔虫感染、营养状况和认知功能的基础数据。干预之后，仅收集了关于蛔虫感染、营养状况和认知功能的数据。孩子们被分成五组。第一组给予驱虫药（甲苯达唑），第二组接受健康教育，第三组既给予驱虫药又接受健康教育，第四组给予安慰剂（对照组），第五组由蛔虫卵阴性的儿童组成，他们也作为对照组。对336名学生的数据进行了协方差分析。寄生虫学检查显示，干预前儿童蛔虫感染的平均患病率为58.4%，干预后儿童的平均患病率为40.6%。关于营养状况，在治疗前和治疗后的数据中，约80%的儿童得分良好，只有一小部分（0.9 - 16.2%）表现出轻度或中度营养不良。治疗前后的营养状况没有显著差异。认知测试结果表明，接受甲苯达唑治疗的组在彩色渐进矩阵测试和编码测试中表现出显著改善。在接受这种干预五个月后，孩子们在学习能力、注意力和手眼协调方面也有所改善。
