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Increased time to pregnancy affected child’s neurological development

Researchers from the Netherlands reported that increased time to pregnancy, and not necessarily fertility treatments, may be the cause of adverse birth outcomes.

“The present data suggest that increased time to pregnancy is associated with suboptimal neurological development,” the researchers wrote. “This implies that factors associated with subfertility may play a role in the genesis of neurodevelopmental problems.”

 

Mijna Hadders-Algra

Mijna Hadders-Algra, MD, PhD and PhD student Jorien Seggers, of the University of Groningen, and colleagues assessed the neurological development of 209 children aged 2 years who were born to parents who had difficulty conceiving. Most of the children’s parents had received some type of fertility treatment, including in vitro fertilization and intracytoplasmic sperm injection. The researchers used the Hempel examination to assess neurological dysfunction. Regression analyses were conducted to examine the relationship between time to pregnancy and neurodevelopment.

Results indicated that 7.7% of children had mild neurological dysfunction, which included problems in fine and gross motor functions, posture, muscle tone, reflexes and visuomotor skills. The researchers found that time to pregnancy for children with mild neurological dysfunction (median, 4.1 years) was significantly longer vs. that for developmentally healthy children (median, 2.8 years; P=.014). Time to pregnancy contributed to mild neurological dysfunction for a crude odds ratio of 1.27 (95% CI, 1.06-1.54). Even after controlling for gestational age and the parents’ age and education, the association remained significant (adjusted OR=1.30; 95% CI, 1.05-1.61).

 

Jorien Seggers

The researchers concluded that more research on the relationship between subfertility and health outcomes in children is needed for better counseling of couples struggling to conceive.

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.