Academic performance and intelligence quotient of primary school children in Enugu

The Mediation Pathway Linking Dental Caries and Academic Performance in Children

INTRODUCTION

There is little discussion in the literature on the pathway linking oral health problems and academic performance (AP) in children. This study investigated the hypothesis that the influence of dental caries on academic performance is mediated through toothache and impacted sleep and study activities.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study on children aged 12-14 years collected data on the exposure (decayed tooth index), outcome (school examination results), and mediator (school absence due to toothache, and oral health impact on sleep and study performances using the Child-Oral Impact on Daily Performance instrument) variables. It used mediation analysis to examine the indirect effects of a single and two serial mediators using model 4 (caries → mediator → AP) and model 6 (caries → mediator 1 → mediator 2 → AP), respectively, in PROCESS macro add-on software in IBM SPSS v24. Analyses were carried out separately for boys and girls at a 5% significance level.

RESULTS

In model 4, school absence due to toothache (boys: 95% CI: 0.42, 1.01; girls: 95% CI: 0.58, 0.98), and impacted sleep (95% CI: 0.13, 0.41; 95% CI: 2.17, 13.03), and study (95% CI: 0.05, 0.42; 95% CI: 0.54, 0.94) performance were significant single mediators in both sexes. In model 6, school absence due to toothache and impacted sleep activity (boys: 95% CI: 0.02, 0.29 and girls: 95% CI: 1.37, 12.81), and school absence due to toothache and impacted study activity (girls: 95% CI: 1.37, 12.81) were significant two serial-mediators.

CONCLUSION

This study provides empirical evidence showing that dental caries and toothache can impact academic performance as they disrupt sleep and study performances to influence the learning and cognition process. The finding bridges the understanding of the mechanism underpinning the relationship and thus, further emphasizes the importance of caries prevention in children with high caries risk for improving their health outcomes and educational experience.

Evaluating the associations between intelligence quotient and multi-tissue proteome from the brain, CSF and plasma

Intelligence quotient is a vital index to evaluate the ability of an individual to think rationally, learn from experience and deal with the environment effectively. However, limited efforts have been paid to explore the potential associations of intelligence quotient traits with the tissue proteins from the brain, CSF and plasma. The information of protein quantitative trait loci was collected from a recently released genome-wide association study conducted on quantification data of proteins from the tissues including the brain, CSF and plasma. Using the individual-level genotypic data from the UK Biobank cohort, we calculated the polygenic risk scores for each protein based on the protein quantitative trait locus data sets above. Then, Pearson correlation analysis was applied to evaluate the relationships between intelligence quotient traits (including 120 330 subjects for 'fluid intelligence score' and 38 949 subjects for 'maximum digits remembered correctly') and polygenic risk scores of each protein in the brain (17 protein polygenic risk scores), CSF (116 protein polygenic risk scores) and plasma (59 protein polygenic risk scores). The Bonferroni corrected P-value threshold was P < 1.30 × 10-4 (0.05/384). Finally, Mendelian randomization analysis was conducted to test the causal relationships between 'fluid intelligence score' and pre-specific proteins from correlation analysis results. Pearson correlation analysis identified significant association signals between the protein of macrophage-stimulating protein and fluid intelligence in brain and CSF tissues (P brain = 1.21 × 10-8, P CSF = 1.10 × 10-7), as well as between B-cell lymphoma 6 protein and fluid intelligence in CSF (P CSF = 1.23 × 10-4). Other proteins showed close-to-significant associations with the trait of 'fluid intelligence score', such as plasma protease C1 inhibitor (P CSF = 4.19 × 10-4, P plasma = 6.97 × 10-4), and with the trait of 'maximum digits remembered correctly', such as tenascin (P plasma = 3.42 × 10-4). Additionally, Mendelian randomization analysis results suggested that macrophage-stimulating protein (Mendelian randomization-Egger: β = 0.54, P = 1.64 × 10-61 in the brain; β = 0.09, P = 1.60 × 10-12 in CSF) had causal effects on fluid intelligence score. We observed functional relevance of specific tissue proteins to intelligence quotient and identified several candidate proteins, such as macrophage-stimulating protein. This study provided a novel insight to the relationship between tissue proteins and intelligence quotient traits.

Physical strength levels and short-term memory efficiency in primary school children: a possible match?

BACKGROUND

Physical strength stimulation and, in general, physical activity induces brain plasticity (functional and structural adaptations) in different cerebral areas, benefiting executive function, cognition, attention and academic performance, which is usually estimated by measuring the Intelligent Quotient (IQ), and IQ is related to short-term memory, generally during school age. However, very little is known about the role of physical strength on short-term memory efficiency. Therefore, the primary aim of this study is to examine whether the level of physical strength can positively impact short-term memory efficiency in primary school children. Additionally, if this effect is observed, the secondary goal of this study is to determine whether the age of the participants plays a role in mediating and moderating this influence.

METHODS

Seventy-five children from a primary school in the metropolitan area of Turin were recruited for this study. Each subject performed the overhead medicine ball toss (backwards) test to assess physical strength and the Digit Span test from the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) to evaluate short-term memory efficiency. Firstly, a simple mediation model was used to identify the possible impact of physical strength levels on short-term memory efficiency and the potential role of participants' chronological age. Secondly, a moderation model was carried out to observe if age could moderate the impact of physical training on short-term memory efficiency and the different significance levels of the moderator. Significance was assumed at P<0.05.

RESULTS

The results showed a statistically significant direct effect of physical strength on short-term memory (Β=0.429, t(72)=3.247, P<0.01). On the contrary, age was not statistically significant (Β=0.167, t(72)=3.247, P=0.211). Furthermore, a significant interaction between strength and age was identified by the moderation model (β=-0.270, P<0.01). Specifically, the impact of physical strength levels on short-term memory increased for individuals who were above the mean age (β=0.755, P<0.001). but not for those under the mean age (β=0.215, P=0.153). This model explains 37.2% of the variance in memory (R2=0.372, F(3, 71)=14.031, P<0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

These findings suggest that physical strength can positively influence short-term memory. In addition, this impact is enhanced in older-age children. Thus, primary school programs should stimulate physical strength to help children develop cognitive abilities.

Desempenho escolar e saúde mental em alunos do Ensino Fundamental II da Região Sul do Brasil

O estudo do desempenho acadêmico e sua relação com a saúde mental de crianças e adolescentes é uma área de interesse crescente entre educadores e profissionais de saúde. O objetivo deste artigo é identificar o grau de associação entre desempenho acadêmico, saúde mental e dados sociodemográficos, e avaliar se o desempenho acadêmico é uma variável associada à saúde mental em uma amostra de 83 estudantes do Ensino Fundamental II de escolas públicas e seus responsáveis. O estudo utiliza uma metodologia quantitativa de corte transversal, e os dados foram obtidos utilizando os seguintes instrumentos: ficha de dados sociodemográficos, Questionário de Capacidades e Dificuldades (SDQ) para estudantes e responsáveis; e uma pontuação de desempenho acadêmico. A análise dos dados foi realizada por meio de estatística descritiva, correlação e regressão linear múltipla. Dentre os resultados destaca-se a alta percepção entre os estudantes de "total de dificuldades" no SDQ, indicando a presença de problemas de saúde mental clinicamente relevantes. Os resultados também mostraram que os estudantes com desempenho médio e baixo apresentam níveis significativamente mais altos de problemas de saúde mental. O artigo examina a prevalência de problemas de saúde mental infantil e adolescente, possíveis fatores de risco e estudos futuros que possam ampliar a população da amostra. As conclusões gerais indicam altos níveis de adoecimento psíquico, particularmente entre estudantes com desempenho médio e baixo.