Preventing Mental Health Problems After Childhood Severe Malaria

Preventing Long-term Mental Health Problems in Children Admitted With Severe Malaria at Naguru General Hospital in Uganda

This is a randomized trial in which caregivers of children suffering from malaria will be assigned to two treatment conditions to prevent mental health problems in the children. A psycho-education arm (control) and a behavioral arm (intervention). Pre- and post-intervention assessments for behavioral problems in the child and mother will be carried out.

This study is designed to prevent mental health problems in children after an episode of severe malaria. The effect of the intervention on the mother's psychological wellbeing will also be assessed. Both caregivers and children will be assessed on the ward before being randomly assigned to the treatment arms. The interventions in both arms will be done in three phases with the third phase being done at home after discharge. Post-intervention assessments will be done on both the caregivers and mothers 6 months after discharge.

Inclusion Criteria:

• aged 1.5 to 4 years
• admitted with severe malaria necessitating admission and intravenous treatment
• signed informed consent from the caregiver. Severe malaria in this study will include; cerebral malaria, severe malarial anemia, malaria with impaired consciousness (but not in coma or CM) and malaria with multiple seizures.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Living more than 50km from the hospital
• pre-existing developmental delays based on the Ten Questions Questionnaire