Attention Test Assessment from a Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial of Caregiver Training for Ugandan Preschool Children Living with Perinatal HIV

Abstract

Fifty-six Ugandan mothers/caregivers received Mediational Intervention for Sensitizing Caregivers (MISC) biweekly for one year; 46 mothers received treatment-as-usual. Preschool PHIV child attention was measured by proportion of time viewing a 7-min animation (early childhood vigilance test or ECVT) at enrollment, 6 and 12 months. Analysis of covariance compared ECVT outcomes for the two intervention groups, controlling for baseline ECVT performance, age and weight-for-age z scores. Differences by trial arm were not significant at any of the three time points. MISC trial-arm children on combination ART during the study period displayed more stable ECVT scores across time points compared to controls.

Figure 1.

Consort diagram from the cluster randomized controlled trial for children in Kayunga Uganda born to mothers with confirmed HIV infection and who themselves were confirmed to be peri-natally infected (PHIV). These were based on a sampling pool of 138 children between 2 and 5 years of age receiving home care for HIV disease through Child health advocacy international (CAI) - Uganda.

Figure 2.

Proportion of time (adjusted for child’s age at testing) viewing the 7-minute cartoon figure animation for the Early Childhood Vigilance Test (ECVT) is depicted at baseline for the Mediational Intervention for Sensitizing Caregivers (mediational intervention or MISC) (blue line) and the health/nutrition/hygiene (Control) caregiver training arm (red line). Time points are assessment at Baseline (study enrollment), 6 months (mid-way through caregiving training year), and 12 months (at the end of the caregiver training year, adjusted for age at assessment and weight-for-age z score (WHO norms). The standard error (SE) bars for the two groups at each time point are two SEs above and below the adjusted mean.