Longitudinal study of urban malaria in a cohort of Ugandan children: description of study site, census and recruitment.
BACKGROUND
Studies of malaria in well-defined cohorts offer important data about the epidemiology of this complex disease, but few have been done in urban African populations. To generate a sampling frame for a longitudinal study of malaria incidence and treatment in Kampala, Uganda, a census, mapping and survey project was conducted.


METHODS
All households in a geographically defined area were enumerated and mapped. Probability sampling was used to recruit a representative sample of children and collect baseline descriptive data for future longitudinal studies.


RESULTS
16,172 residents living in 4931 households in a densely-populated community (18,824 persons/km2) were enumerated. A total of 582 households were approached with at least one child less than 10 years of age in order to recruit 601 children living in 322 households. At enrollment, 19% were parasitaemic, 24% were anaemic, 43% used bednets, and 6% used insecticide-treated nets. Low G6PD activity (OR = 0.33, P = 0.009) and bednet use (OR = 0.64, P = 0.045) were associated with a decreased risk of parasitaemia. Increasing age (OR = 0.62 for each year, P < 0.001) and bednet use (OR = 0.58, P = 0.02) were associated with a decreased risk of anaemia


CONCLUSIONS
Detailed surveys of target populations in urban Africa can provide valuable descriptive data and provide a sampling frame for recruitment of representative cohorts for longitudinal studies. Plans to use a multi-disciplinary approach to improve the understanding of the distribution and determinants of malaria incidence and response to therapy in this population are discussed.
Department of Medicine, San Francisco General Hospital, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA. jdavi9@itsa.ucsf.edu
Jennifer C
JC
Davis
Tamara D
TD
Clark
Sarah K
SK
Kemble
Nalugwa
N
Talemwa
Denise
D
Njama-Meya
Sarah G
SG
Staedke
Grant
G
Dorsey
D000375:Aging; D001512:Bedding and Linens; D019352:Censuses; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005952:Glucose-6-Phosphatase / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007306:Insecticides; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008288:Malaria / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D016017:Odds Ratio; D018579:Patient Selection; D011204:Poverty Areas; D014454:Uganda / Q000453:epidemiology; D014504:Urban Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014505:Urban Population
D007306:Insecticides; D005952:Glucose-6-Phosphatase