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Attention in HIV-infected children: Results from the Hemophilia Growth and Development Study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2000

JOHN M. WATKINS
Affiliation:
Childrens Hospital of Orange County, Orange, California
VALERIE A. COOL
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics, University of Iowa College of Medicine, Iowa City, Iowa
DALE USNER
Affiliation:
Department of Statistics, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon
JAMES A. STEHBENS
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics, University of Iowa College of Medicine, Iowa City, Iowa
SHARON NICHOLS
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California
KATHERINE A. LOVELAND
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, University of Texas Medical School at Houston, Houston, Texas
JANICE D. BORDEAUX
Affiliation:
Rice University, Houston, Texas
SHARYNE DONFIELD
Affiliation:
Rho, Inc., Chapel Hill, North Carolina
ROBERT F. ASARNOW
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, California
KEITH H. NUECHTERLEIN
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, California

Abstract

Attentional functioning was examined in three groups of 7- to 19-year-old male participants with hemophilia: (1) HIV seronegative controls (HIV−, N = 66), (2) HIV seropositive participants with CD4+ lymphocyte counts greater than or equal to 200 (HIV+ CD4+ ≥200, N = 79), and (3) severely immune suppressed HIV seropositive participants (HIV+ CD4+ <200, N = 28). Two measures sensitive to attention deficits were used: the Continuous Performance Test (CPT) and the Span of Apprehension (Span). On the CPT, there was a decrement in attention in both HIV+ groups, as indexed by an increase in false alarm rate from Block 1 to Block 3, that was not present in the HIV− group. The longer the HIV+ children were required to sustain attention to the CPT, the more they responded to the incorrect stimulus. This effect decreased as age increased. Span percent correct and latency to correct were associated with the presence of a premorbid history of intracerebral hemorrhage, but were not sensitive to HIV status or degree of immune suppression in the HIV+ children, suggesting morbidity related to hemophilia. The remaining CPT and Span variables—hit rate, sensitivity, latency, percent correct, and latency to correct—showed the expected associations with age, but none showed conclusive associations with HIV status or immune suppression in the HIV+ participants. (JINS, 2000, 6, 443–454.)

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2000 The International Neuropsychological Society

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