Early academic achievement of HIV-exposed uninfected children compared to HIV-unexposed uninfected children at 5 years of age

ABSTRACT

HIV-exposed uninfected (HEU) children may be at-risk for poorer academic achievement compared to HIV-unexposed uninfected (HUU) children due to in utero and perinatal exposure to HIV and/or anti-retroviral (ARV) medication. Understanding the risk factors for academic underachievement is important for implementing timely intervention and academic supports. HEU (N = 110, mean (SD) age 5.59 (0.22) years) and HUU (N = 43, mean (SD) age 5.73 (0.64) years) children completed assessments of general intelligence (WPPSI-III) and academic achievement (WRAT-4). Parent interviews and medical record reviews were used to obtain sociodemographic and maternal health data. HUU children scored significantly higher than HEU children on single word reading (p = 0.006), math calculation skills (p = 0.003), Verbal IQ, Performance IQ, Full Scale IQ, and Processing Speed (all WPPSI-III measures p < 0.001). Verbal IQ at 3–4 years predicted academic achievement at 5–6 years of age, yet sociodemographic and medical factors did not. These findings demonstrate that HEU children obtained significantly lower scores of intellectual, reading, and math abilities during early childhood. Addressing these early gaps before HEU children enter primary school will be critical for optimizing their learning and academic potential.

KEYWORDS:

• HIV-exposed uninfected
• academics
• achievement
• cognition
• development

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Alda Fernandes-Penney for her psychometry expertise with the HEU children and Cheryl Arneson for testing the HUU children. We would also like to thank Klajdi Puka, Hala Shamsi, and Ramendeep Sehra for recruitment efforts, as well as Georgina MacDougall and Robyn Salter for assistance with medical chart reviews.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflict of interest.

Data availability statement

Data may be available upon reasonable request.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.1080/09297049.2021.1871891.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the RBC Foundation and the Canadian Foundation for AIDS Research (CANFAR) under grant number [024-006]