Monitoring Infant Neurodevelopment via the Hammersmith Neurological Examinations in Cambodian Infants at Risk for Thiamine Deficiency

Abstract

Thiamine deficiency is a condition that affects millions of infants in South and Southeast Asia due to heavy cultural reliance on thiamine-poor, polished white rice as a dietary staple. Previous research suggests that a thiamine-deficient diet not only endangers infants’ health, but also hinders infants’ neuro-cognitive development. As part of a larger, randomized controlled trial, this thesis investigated possible benefits of maternal thiamine supplementation for protecting the neurological development of Cambodian infants who are breastfed. Lactating mothers were randomly assigned to four treatment groups (0, 1.2, 2.4, and 10mg daily thiamine supplement) when infants were between 2- and 24-weeks postnatal. Infants’ neurological function was measured at 2-, 12-, 24-, and 52-weeks via the Hammersmith Neurological Examination (Hammersmith), a field-standard clinical assessment tool. As expected, infants’ Hammersmith scores improved significantly with age. However, the data indicated that maternal thiamine supplementation dose had no effect on infants’ Hammersmith scores. This research indicates that the basic neurological functions, as assessed by the Hammersmith in early infancy were relatively unaffected by maternal thiamine supplementation.