Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Jun 20;12(1):10361.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-14175-0.

Impact of Plasmodium vivax malaria on executive and cognitive functions in elderlies in the Brazilian Amazon

Rockson C Pessoa  1 , Gabriela F Oliveira-Pessoa  1 , Brenda K A Souza  1 , Vanderson S Sampaio  1   2   3   4 , André Luiz C B Pinto  2 , Larissa L Barboza  1 , Gabriel S Mouta  1 , Emanuelle Lira Silva  2 , Gisely C Melo  1   2 , Wuelton M Monteiro  1   2 , José H Silva-Filho  5 , Marcus V G Lacerda  6   7   8 , Djane Clarys Baía-da-Silva  1   2   3
Affiliations

Impact of Plasmodium vivax malaria on executive and cognitive functions in elderlies in the Brazilian Amazon

Rockson C Pessoa et al. Sci Rep. .

Erratum in

Abstract

The exact path leading to cognitive impairment that goes beyond malaria is unclear, but it appears to be the result of interactive factors. Time of exposure to disease and recurrences are potentially major determinant variables. Cognitive impairment is described mainly in children, rarely in adults. The disease in high endemic areas usually does not affect elderlies, because of acquired immunity over time. However, this population is relatively more frequently sick in lower endemic areas, such as in the Amazon. This study assessed the effect of Plasmodium vivax malaria on the executive and cognitive functions of elderlies, in the Brazilian Amazon. A cohort study was conducted to evaluate executive and cognitive functions one week (T0), two months (T2) and eight months (T8) after the malaria episode. Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II), Clock Drawing Test (CDT), Wechsler adult intelligence scale (WAIS-III), and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) were used to assess executive and cognitive functions. One hundred-forty elderlies were enrolled (70 with P. vivax malaria and 70 without malaria). P. vivax malaria was associated with impairment of the executive and cognitive functions in elderlies for up to 8 months after acute P. vivax malaria. Prior history of malaria, recurrences and higher parasitemia were independently associated with various surrogates of executive and cognitive impairment. With the increase in life expectancy, elderlies living in malaria endemic areas will deserve more attention from health authorities, to guarantee improvement of their quality of life in the tropics.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flowchart of the study.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Cognitive (A,B) and executive performance (C) assessed by Clock Drawing Test (A), Mini-Mental State Examination (B) and WAIS-III (C).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Executive performance assessed by WCST indicators. (A) Number of categories completed, (B) number total corrects (C) perseverative responses, (D) perseverative errors, (E) nonperseverative errors, (F) percent conceptual level responses and (G) failure to maintain set.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Battle KE, Baird JK. The global burden of Plasmodium vivax malaria is obscure and insidious. PLoS Med. 2021;18(10):e1003799. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1003799. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Kute VB, Goswami JG, Vanikar AV, Shah PR, Gumber MR, Patel HV, et al. Unusual presentation of Plasmodium vivax: A neglected human malaria parasite. Parasitol. Res. 2012;110(6):2573–2576. doi: 10.1007/s00436-011-2776-7. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Naing C, Whittaker MA, Nyunt Wai V, Mak JW. Is Plasmodium vivax malaria a severe malaria?: a systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS Negl. Trop. Dis. 2020;8(8):e3071. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0003071. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Mohamed B, Fall-Malick F-Z, Savadogo M, Basco LK. Acute kidney injury in a shepherd with severe malaria: A case report. Int. J. Nephrol. Renov. Dis. 2016;9:249–251. doi: 10.2147/IJNRD.S116377. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Kotepui M, Kotepui KU, Milanez GDJ, Masangkay FR. Prevalence and risk factors related to poor outcome of patients with severe Plasmodium vivax infection: A systematic review, meta-analysis, and analysis of case reports. BMC Infect. Dis. 2020;20(1):1–14. doi: 10.1186/s12879-020-05046-y. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

Supplementary concepts