Growth and Neurodevelopmental Status in HIV Infected Children

HIV infected children are at risk of growth and developmental disorders.
We assessed growth and neurodevelopment outcomes in 0 - 5 years old HIV infected children.
A cohort study was carried out in a referral HIV clinic. Twenty eight HIV infected children and 47 healthy children aged 0 - 5 years were compared with regard to growth and neurodevelopmental status within two consecutive 6 months. During this period, some parent based interventions were achieved and antiretroviral treatment was optimized in case of necessity.
Among the growth parameters measured, the only significant difference between case and control groups at the beginning of the study was the head circumference percentile (P = 007) and for the developmental variables, abnormality in speech and language ability were more common in case group than in control group (P = 0.04). The difference between controlled and uncontrolled HIV patients at enrollment was marginally significant in gross motor function (P = 0.059) and a significant difference was seen in social ability (P = 0.01). The score changes among parameters before and after intervention between case and control groups were significant in language ability (P = 0.01), fine motor (P = 0.001) and social ability (P = 0.02). The score changes among parameters before and after intervention were also significant in head circumference percentile (P = 0.02) between the two groups, and for weight percentile (P = 0.04) and length percentile (P = 0.04) between well and poorly HIV controlled patients.
The growth and developmental disorders could be preventable with antiretroviral treatment and some simple parent based interventions.