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.
Davis
Jennifer C
JC
Department of Medicine, San Francisco General Hospital, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA. jdavi9@itsa.ucsf.edu
Clark
Tamara D
TD
Kemble
Sarah K
SK
Talemwa
Nalugwa
N
Njama-Meya
Denise
D
Staedke
Sarah G
SG
Dorsey
Grant
G
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