Affective and neuropsychological cognitive dysfunctions of the giardiasis infection among orphanage children in Sharkia governorate

Abstract EN

This study determined the affective disorders (anxiety & depression) and neuropsychological cognitive dysfunctions of Giardia infection among orphanage children.

The sample included 294 infected children and 200 uninfected children recruited from four orphanages in Sharkia District, Egypt.

Children between 5-12 years old, both sexes without social limitation were subjected to the study.

Morning stool samples were collected in labeled cartoon boxes and examined for intestinal parasites mainly Giardia lamblia.

Also, all children were subjected to the cognitive dysfunction determination by using the Wisconsin card sorting test (WCST), detection of affective disorders by Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS).

The results showed lower performance in Giardia infected group than the giardiasis-free ones regarding neuropsychological tests.

The infected children showed lower performance than uninfected ones on Trial A and Trail B, but higher anxiety and depression score than uninfected chil-dren.