Project Title: Long term follow up of the Ifakara 1998-2000 birth cohort feasibility study (Afya 20)
Project Description: Regardless of the rich data on the local environment that has been collected in the Ifakara Health and Demographic Surveillance System over the past 20 years, no attempt has been made to investigate the impact of local health conditions on children’s developmental outcome in the short and in long run. More generally, longitudinal data from Sub-Saharan African is largely missing. Objective The primary objective of the project is to assess the feasibility of a long... Regardless of the rich data on the local environment that has been collected in the Ifakara Health and Demographic Surveillance System over the past 20 years, no attempt has been made to investigate the impact of local health conditions on children’s developmental outcome in the short and in long run. More generally, longitudinal data from Sub-Saharan African is largely missing. Objective The primary objective of the project is to assess the feasibility of a long term cohort study with children born between 1998 and 2000 in Ifakara Rural HDSS. If successful, the cohort would allow us to study the long term social and economic consequences of early childhood health. The study is longitudinal whereby the children born between January 1998 and 2000 will enrolled through small community meetings at the sub-village level and households visits. Verbal consent will sought to the identified children to participate in this study. Those who consented will be asked a few questions which will provide information to assess the long-term social and economic consequences of early childhood health. Cox proportional-hazard models will be employed to assess the relationship between early life risk factors and survival to early adulthood. The presentation of Kaplan-Meier curves will be used to describe the survival over time. Relevance to Tanzania public health The establishment of birth cohort in Tanzania would be a great resource for researchers globally, and allow for the first time to track children from early childhood to their adult lives in Tanzania context. This cohort would not only allow to identify key risk factors for children in early life and adulthood, but also allow to assess social mobility in Tanzania as well as the key challenges faced by children and young adults in this setting. Ethical considerations Local ethical approval for the study will also be sought in Tanzania. Verbal consent will be sought from all subjects. Participation in this study will be voluntary and we will not collect any information that is expected to particularly sensitive. "
Principal Investigator : Sigilbert Mrema
Department Name : EHES
Time frame: (2018-06-13) - (2019-12-31)
Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Normal)
External Collaborating Partners
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