Developing and Validating an Epilepsy Awareness and Education Program: Bridging Gaps in Knowledge and Support for People Living with Epilepsy and Their Families.

Various epilepsy studies on epilepsy awareness and knowledge highlight underlying myths, misconceptions, stigma, and discrimination associated with epilepsy, People Living with Epilepsy (PLWE), and their families. This study aimed to develop an epilepsy awareness and education programme to enhance epilepsy awareness and support among individuals living with epilepsy and their families. Participatory Action Research (PAR) laid the ground for the programme's investigation, development, and implementation.

Exploration of health care providers' knowledge-based care and support given to family members and caregivers of people living with epilepsy.

Introduction: In South Africa, approximately half a million individuals live with epilepsy. This means that half a million families and caregivers are impacted by epilepsy, with a limited number of healthcare providers responsible for treating people living with the condition, as well as their families and caregivers.

Methods: This study explored the knowledge-based care and support healthcare providers give families and caregivers.

Epilepsy in rural South Africa: Patient experiences and healthcare challenges.

Objective: This study investigates the prevalent issues of healthcare access and the impact of antiseizure treatments among people with epilepsy (PWE) in rural Limpopo and Mpumalanga, South Africa, where healthcare facilities and affordable treatments are often inadequate.

Methods: Using a cross-sectional survey, 162 PWE were selected using multistage sampling across the provinces. Data were collected via a structured questionnaire and analyzed descriptively using SPSS v27.

Exploring the Barriers and Facilitators in the Management of Childhood Trauma and Violence Exposure Intervention in the Vhembe District of the Limpopo Province, South Africa.

Research has shown that barriers and facilitators in psychotherapy exhibit similarities. The authors of this study are of the view that to effectively address the difficulties encountered in psychotherapy for children and adolescents, it is crucial to consider the points of view of professionals who have firsthand encounters with children. The purpose of this study was to effectively explore barriers and facilitators in the treatment of children exposed to trauma and violence.

Development and validation of an intervention for childhood trauma and exposure to violence in Vhembe District, South Africa.

Most strategies are implemented; however, South Africa needs to evaluate and develop trauma interventions. The study aims to develop, test and validate childhood trauma exposure intervention in the Vhembe district, Limpopo province. Donabedian's structure-process-outcome model will guide the study.

Childhood Trauma and Exposure to Violence Interventions: The Need for Effective and Feasible Evidence-Based Interventions.

Several crimes in South Africa cause physical, economic, and mental problems. Xenophobic attacks, mob justice, and other violent conduct directly traumatise children. Service delivery riots and physical and sexual abuse are examples.

Early-Life Enteric Pathogen Exposure, Socioeconomic Status, and School-Age Cognitive Outcomes.

Early-life experiences of enteric infections and diarrheal illness are common in low-resource settings and are hypothesized to affect child development. However, longer-term associations of enteric infections with school-age cognitive outcomes are difficult to estimate due to lack of long-term studies. The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between enteropathogen exposure in the first 2 years of life with school-age cognitive skills in a cohort of children followed from birth until 6 to 8 years in low-resource settings in Brazil, Tanzania, and South Africa.

Caregivers' and Family Members' Knowledge Attitudes and Practices (KAP) towards Epilepsy in Rural Limpopo and Mpumalanga, South Africa.

Epilepsy, a common neurological disease, has a significant impact on people living with epilepsy (PLWE), their caregivers, and their family members. Research has consistently shown that the quality of life of PLWE is low. To expand on this knowledge, a non-experimental quantitative survey study was conducted to explore the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of caregivers and family members towards epilepsy and epilepsy-related seizures.

Knowledge and Attitudes towards Prostate Cancer and Screening among Males in Limpopo Province, South Africa.

Inadequate knowledge and poor attitudes about prostate cancer (PC) negatively affect early screening practices among males. The PC mortality rate is increasing due to late reporting, screening, and treatment. This study explored the awareness, attitudes, and PC screening behaviours among males in the Limpopo, Thulamela municipality.

Impact of Shigella infections and inflammation early in life on child growth and school-aged cognitive outcomes: Findings from three birth cohorts over eight years.

Background: Shigella infections cause inflammation, which has been hypothesized to mediate the associations between Shigella and child development outcomes among children in low-resource settings. We aimed to assess whether early life inflammation and Shigella infections affect school-aged growth and cognitive outcomes from 6-8 years of age.

Methodology/principal Findings: We conducted follow-up assessments of anthropometry, reasoning skills, and verbal fluency in 451 children at 6-8 years of age in the Brazil, Tanzania, and South Africa sites of MAL-ED, a longitudinal birth cohort study.

In-utero exposure to DDT and pyrethroids and child behavioral and emotional problems at 2 years of age in the VHEMBE cohort, South Africa.

Background: Half the world's population is at risk for malaria. Indoor residual spraying (IRS) with insecticides has been effective in controlling malaria, yet the potential neurotoxicity of these insecticides is of concern, particularly for infants exposed in utero.

Objectives: To determine the association of prenatal exposure to DDT/DDE and pyrethroid insecticides and behavioral/emotional problems in two-year-old children.

South African university women's perspectives on intimate partner violence: a qualitative study of reactions to a tailored vignette.

Intimate partner violence is an ongoing issue in South Africa, which has the highest rates of violence against women and girls in the world. Intimate partner violence is common in Limpopo, where women, including university students, experience elevated rates of violent crime. This qualitative study was conducted to examine university students' perspectives regarding intimate partner violence among their peers.

Early Life Experiences and Trajectories of Cognitive Development.

Background: Multiple factors constrain the trajectories of child cognitive development, but the drivers that differentiate the trajectories are unknown. We examine how multiple early life experiences differentiate patterns of cognitive development over the first 5 years of life in low-and middle-income settings.

Methods: Cognitive development of 835 children from the Etiology, Risk Factors, and Interactions of Enteric Infections and Malnutrition and the Consequences for Child Health and Development (MAL-ED) multisite observational cohort study was assessed at 6, 15, 24 (Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development), and 60 months (Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence).

Psychosocial and environmental determinants of child cognitive development in rural south africa and tanzania: findings from the mal-ed cohort.

Background: Approximately 66% of children under the age of 5 in Sub-Saharan African countries do not reach their full cognitive potential, the highest percentage in the world. Because the majority of studies investigating child cognitive development have been conducted in high-income countries (HICs), there is limited knowledge regarding the determinants of child development in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

Methods: This analysis includes 401 mother-child dyads from the South Africa and Tanzania sites of the Etiology, Risk Factors, and Interactions of Enteric Infections and Malnutrition and the Consequences for Child Health and Development (MAL-ED) longitudinal birth cohort study.

Early Life Child Micronutrient Status, Maternal Reasoning, and a Nurturing Household Environment have Persistent Influences on Child Cognitive Development at Age 5 years: Results from MAL-ED.

Background: Child cognitive development is influenced by early-life insults and protective factors. To what extent these factors have a long-term legacy on child development and hence fulfillment of cognitive potential is unknown.

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the relation between early-life factors (birth to 2 y) and cognitive development at 5 y.

Assessing development across cultures: Invariance of the Bayley-III Scales Across Seven International MAL-ED sites.

The Bayley's Scales of Infant and Toddler Development-Third Edition (Bayley-III) were used to measure the development of 24-month-old children (N = 1,452) in the Interactions of Malnutrition and Enteric Infections: Consequences for Child Health and Development (MAL-ED) study (an international, multisite study on many aspects of child development). This study examined the factor structure and measurement equivalence/invariance of Bayley-III scores across 7 international research sites located in Bangladesh, Brazil, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Peru, and South Africa. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to identify the factor structure of Bayley-III scores.

Prenatal Exposure to DDT and Pyrethroids for Malaria Control and Child Neurodevelopment: The VHEMBE Cohort, South Africa.

Background: Although indoor residual spraying (IRS) with dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and pyrethroids effectively controls malaria, it potentially increases human exposure to these insecticides. Previous studies suggest that prenatal exposure to these insecticides may impact human neurodevelopment.

Objectives: We aimed to estimate the effects of maternal insecticide exposure and neurodevelopment of toddlers living in a malaria-endemic region currently using IRS.

Early childhood growth and cognitive outcomes: Findings from the MAL-ED study.

Although many studies around the world hope to measure or improve developmental progress in children to promote community flourishing and productivity, growth is sometimes used as a surrogate because cognitive skills are more difficult to measure. Our objective was to assess how childhood measures of anthropometry correlate with measures of child development in low-income settings with high prevalence of poor nutrition and enteric disease, to inform studies considering growth outcomes in the absence of direct child developmental skill assessment. Children from the MAL-ED study were followed from birth to 24 months of age in field sites in 8 low- and middle-income countries across 3 continents.

Measuring home environments across cultures: Invariance of the HOME scale across eight international sites from the MAL-ED study.

The home environment provides the context for much of a child's early development. Examples of important aspects of the home environment include safety, cleanliness, and opportunities for cognitive stimulation. This study sought to examine the psychometric properties of an adapted form of the Home Observation for the Measurement of the Environment (HOME; Caldwell & Bradley, 1984, 2003) across the eight international sites of the MAL-ED project (Dhaka, Bangladesh; Vellore, India; Bhakatapur, Nepal; Naushahro Feroze, Pakistan; Fortaleza, Brazil; Loreto, Peru; Venda, South Africa; Haydom, Tanzania), to identify a factor structure that fit the data at all sites, and to derive a subset of items that could be used to examine home environmental characteristics across sites.

Global Disability: Empowering Children of all Abilities.

Worldwide, children are often not meeting their developmental potential owing to malnutrition, infection, lack of stimulation, and toxic stress. Children with disabilities are more likely to experience poverty, neglect, and abuse, and are less likely to have adequate access to education and medical care. Early childhood developmental stimulation can improve language, learning, and future participation in communities.

The MAL-ED cohort study: methods and lessons learned when assessing early child development and caregiving mediators in infants and young children in 8 low- and middle-income countries.

More epidemiological data are needed on risk and protective factors for child development. In The Etiology, Risk Factors and Interactions of Enteric Infections and Malnutrition and the Consequences for Child Health and Development (MAL-ED) cohort study, we assessed child development in a harmonious manner across 8 sites in Bangladesh, Brazil, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Peru, South Africa, and Tanzania. From birth to 24 months, development and language acquisition were assessed via the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development and a modified MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory.

Postpartum depressive symptoms across time and place: structural invariance of the Self-Reporting Questionnaire among women from the international, multi-site MAL-ED study.

Background: The Self-Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ) is a screening instrument that has been shown to be an effective measure of depression in postpartum women and is widely used in developing nations.

Methods: The SRQ was administered to 2028 mothers from eight nations at two time points: one and six months postpartum. All data were obtained from the Interactions of Malnutrition and Enteric Infections: Consequences for Child Health and Development (MAL-ED) study.