Impact of Environmental Airborne Manganese Exposure on Cognitive and Motor Functions in Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Laura Ruiz-Azcona, Ignacio Fernández-Olmo, Andrea Expósito, Bohdana Markiv, María Paz-Zulueta, Paula Parás-Bravo, Carmen Sarabia-Cobo and Miguel Santibáñez
Additional contact information
Laura Ruiz-Azcona: Global Health Research Group, Dpto Enfermería, Universidad de Cantabria, Avda. Valdecilla s/n, 39008 Santander, Cantabria, Spain
Ignacio Fernández-Olmo: Dpto. de Ingenierías Química y Biomolecular, Universidad de Cantabria, Avda. Los Castros s/n, 39005 Santander, Cantabria, Spain
Andrea Expósito: Dpto. de Ingenierías Química y Biomolecular, Universidad de Cantabria, Avda. Los Castros s/n, 39005 Santander, Cantabria, Spain
Bohdana Markiv: Dpto. de Ingenierías Química y Biomolecular, Universidad de Cantabria, Avda. Los Castros s/n, 39005 Santander, Cantabria, Spain
María Paz-Zulueta: Economía de la Salud y Gestión de Servicios Sanitarios Research Group, Dpto Enfermería, Universidad de Cantabria, Avda. Valdecilla s/n, 39008 Santander, Cantabria, Spain
Paula Parás-Bravo: Economía de la Salud y Gestión de Servicios Sanitarios Research Group, Dpto Enfermería, Universidad de Cantabria, Avda. Valdecilla s/n, 39008 Santander, Cantabria, Spain
Carmen Sarabia-Cobo: Cuidados Research Group, Dpto Enfermería, Universidad de Cantabria, Avda. Valdecilla s/n, 39008 Santander, Cantabria, Spain
Miguel Santibáñez: Global Health Research Group, Dpto Enfermería, Universidad de Cantabria, Avda. Valdecilla s/n, 39008 Santander, Cantabria, Spain

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 8, 1-30

Abstract: Background/Objective: Whether environmental exposure to Manganese (Mn) in adults is associated with poorer results in cognitive and motor function is unclear. We aimed to determine these associations through a meta-analysis of published studies. Methods: A systematic review was conducted to identify epidemiological studies on a population ?18 years old exposed to environmental airborne Mn, and in which results on specific tests to evaluate cognitive or motor functions were reported. We consulted Medline through PubMed, Web of Science and SCOPUS databases. We also performed a manual search within the list of bibliographic references of the retrieved studies and systematic reviews. To weight Mn effects, a random effects versus fixed effect model was chosen after studying the heterogeneity of each outcome. Results. Eighteen studies met the inclusion criteria. Among them, eleven studies reported data susceptible for meta-analysis through a pooled correlation or a standardized means difference (SMD) approach between exposed and non-exposed groups. Regarding cognitive function, the results of the studies showed heterogeneity among them (I 2 = 76.49%, p < 0.001). The overall effect was a statistically significant negative correlation in the random effects model (pooled r = ?0.165; 95%CI: ?0.214 to ?0.116; p < 0.001). For SMD, the results showed a lower heterogeneity with a negative SMD that did not reach statistical significance under the fixed effects model (SMD = ?0.052; 95%CI ?0.108 to 0.004; p = 0.068). Regarding motor function, heterogeneity (I 2 = 75%) was also observed in the correlation approach with a pooled r (random effect model) = ?0.150; 95%CI: ?0.219 to ?0.079; p < 0.001. Moderate heterogeneity was observed according to the SMD approach (I 2 = 52.28%), with a pooled SMD = ?0.136; 95%CI: ?0.188 to?0.084; p < 0.001, indicating worse motor function in those exposed. Conclusions: Correlation approach results support a negative effect on cognitive and motor functions (the higher the Mn levels, the poorer the scores). Regarding the SMD approach, results also support a worse cognitive and motor functions in those exposed, although only for motor function statistical significance was obtained.

Keywords: manganese; environmental health; cognitive function; motor function; adults; meta-analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/8/4075/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/8/4075/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:8:p:4075-:d:534892

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().