Rehabilitation Program for Cognitive Deficits in Ugandan Children After Cerebral Malaria

A Randomised Trial to Investigate the Effect of a Rehabilitation Program for Cognitive Deficits in Ugandan Children After Cerebral Malaria.

Status

Completed

Phases

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT00658450

Enrollment

123

Registered

2008-04-15

Start date

2008-02-29

Completion date

2010-10-31

Last updated

2012-12-06

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Malaria, Cerebral

Keywords

Malaria, Cerebral

Brief summary

The purpose of this study is to determine whether computerised cognitive rehabilitation training improves cognition in children who have had cerebral malaria.

Detailed description

Cerebral malaria affects several children in sub-Saharan Africa leaving some survivors with cognitive problems especially in attention and memory. There are currently no tested interventions for such deficits resulting from infectious diseases like malaria or other causes. Providing such interventions will go a long way in helping these children achieve their full potential.

Interventions

BEHAVIORALCognitive rehabilitation training

A computerised cognitive training package where children will be required to complete several cognitive tasks. The aim is to strengthen the different cognitive processes during these tasks which in turn may lead to improve cognitive processes. Children will complete these tasks in 16 session for 8 weeks.

Study design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

PARALLEL

Primary purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

5 Years to 15 Years

Healthy volunteers

Yes

Inclusion criteria

CM group Inclusion Criteria: * aged five to 15 years, presenting with asexual forms of P. falciparum malaria on a peripheral blood smear, unarousable coma (not able to localize a painful stimulus) and no other cause for coma (normal CSF). CM group

Exclusion criteria

* history of or present meningitis, encephalitis, prior CM, sickle cell disease (SCD), HIV infection, epilepsy, multiple seizures, developmental delay and history of hospitalization for malnutrition. Healthy control group Inclusion Criteria: * aged five to 15 years with no other illness at present, within two years of the CM child (for CM children aged 5 and 6 years, the HC's age wont go below 5 and for CM children aged 14 and 15, the HC's age wont go above 15 years). Healthy control group

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
Improvement in attention scores	6 months

Secondary

Measure	Time frame
Improvement in memory, reasoning, planning, behaviour and academic achievement	6 months

Countries

Uganda

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026