The Intellectual Efficiency of Adolescents Aged 13-15- Years-Old Using Drinking Water with Varying Fluoride Concentrations in Kajiado North Sub County, Kajiado County

摘要

Fluoride in concentrations of 0.5 to 1 milligram per litre (mg/l) of water has been reported to reduce dental caries. However, chronic intake of higher levels of 1.5mg/l and above has not only been stated to cause varying degrees of dental and skeletal fluorosis, but also excessive fluoride intake has also been shown to affect the CNS without first creating the physical malformations of dental and skeletal fluorosis. Water is the primary source of fluoride in the human body. Therefore, the adverse effects of high fluoride in drinking water on intellectual efficiency is a potential public health problem. The study aimed at establishing the intellectual efficiency of adolescents who were born and raised in North Kajiado area known to have pockets of high fluoride in water and compared it with the intellectual efficiency adolescents born and raised in low and medium fluoride in the same area. In this cross-sectional descriptive study, 269 school children aged 13-15 years were selected from six schools in Kajiado North Sub County with medium fluoride (≥1.1mg/l and ≤2.0mg), low fluoride (≤1.0mg/l) and high fluoride (≥2.1mg/l) in their water supplies. Social-demographic data was collected using a questionnaire which included socio-demographic details. Intellectual efficiency was assessed using The Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT4). Those who lived in low and medium water fluoride areas respectively had a higher mean intellectual efficiency (IE) thus 104.88 and 106.33 respectively in comparison to those who lived-in high-water fluoride areas who had a mean IE of 97.75. A higher proportion of low and medium fluoride areas scored above average and gifted than those from high fluoride areas. According to household water fluoride, those who had low fluoride concentration had a mean IE of 107.47 while those with medium and high had 96.20 each. The mean IE increased with an increase in the household water fluoride concentration. However, the mean IE decreased from 2.6-3.0mg/l when it increased slightly increased but did not reach the mean IE of low fluoride concentrations. The study shows that long-term exposure to fluoride from birth may result in lowering of intellectual efficiency.