Abstract
Background:Lead poisoning affects the central nervous system of children, leading to developmental delay. There are multiple environmental sources of lead exposure in Yaounde, and this exposure could have a negative impact on child development. Herein, we aimed to determine the negative effects of lead poisoning on the development of children aged 1–5 years in Yaoundé.
Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we included children whose blood lead levels had been measured in a previous study entitled “Blood Lead Levels among Children in Yaoundé Cameroon.” Using the Denver II developmental screening test and a pre-tested questionnaire, we assessed the psychomotor development of our participants. We collected relevant data on sociodemographic characteristics, medical history, nutrition, perinatal history, and schooling. We used Epi info version 3.5.4 and WHO Anthroplus for all data analyses. P <0.05 was statistically significant.
Results:Of the 70 participants included in this study, 22 (31.43%) had blood lead levels of ≥10 μg/dL. Nine (12.86%) of them had developmental delay. We found a significant association between developmental delay and prematurity, low birth weight, artificial milk consumption, postnatal resuscitation, antenatal consultations, prenatal HIV testing, schooling, and high blood lead levels (≥10 μg/dL). However, none of these factors was found to be independently associated with developmental delay.
Conclusion:A blood lead level of ≥10 μg/dL was found to be a risk factor for developmental delay in children aged 1–5 years in Yaoundé. However, developmental delay was found to be a multifactorial outcome. Further prospective studies should be conducted to further investigate our findings.