Neuropsychological Impairment in School-Aged Children Born to Mothers With Gestational Diabetes

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine whether school-aged children born to mothers with gestational diabetes show delays in their neuropsychological development. Several key neuropsychological characteristics of 32 children aged 7 to 9 years born to mothers with gestational diabetes were examined by comparing their performance on cognitive tasks to that of 28 children aged 8 to 10 years whose mothers had glucose levels within normal limits during pregnancy. The gestational diabetes group showed low performance on graphic, spatial, and bimanual skills and a higher presence of soft neurologic signs. Lower scores for general intellectual level and the working memory index were also evident. Our results suggest that gestational diabetes is associated with mild cognitive impairment.

Bayley‐III motor scale and neurological examination at 2 years do not predict motor skills at 4.5 years

“…Bayley-III motor scores were only weakly associated with Full-scale IQ at 4.5 years (b=0. 5 Children with minor neurological abnormality at 2 years had similar MABC-2 scores to those who had a normal neurological examination, and were not at increased risk of MABC-2 scores at or below the 15th centile at 4.5 years (OR=1.7; 95% CI 0.9-3.12; p=0.124). Further, there was…”

“…2 Motor difficulties that cause low participation in physical activities in turn may lead to poor muscle strength, poor bone health, and obesity. 3 Early screening for motor difficulties using assessment tools and routine neurological examination is performed regularly, especially in children born at risk of adverse outcomes, 4,5 to guide the requirement for early supportive interventions. Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development (Bayley) have been widely used to assess neurodevelopment of children from 1 to 42 months of age.…”

Maternal recurrent pregnancy loss is associated with an increased risk for long‐term neurological morbidity in offspring

“…Increased rates of maternal diabetes in the group with RPL were evident in our cohort, as expected. These exposures were all proven to independently impact on the child's future health, and increase the risk for abnormal neurological development . Thus, it may well be that this maternal background disorder leading to RPL also results in future offspring neurological morbidity, rather than an intrinsic aberrant uterine microenvironment or another explanation.…”

Lessons learned from lifestyle prevention trials in gestational diabetes mellitus

“…Prevalence figures vary significantly depending on duration of follow‐up and GDM diagnostic criteria but have been reported to be low as 3% (3 years post‐partum in a Swedish cohort) , and as high as 60% (women followed for up to 16 years post‐partum) . The offspring of women with GDM are more likely to have intellectual impairment, metabolic syndrome, obesity and diabetes later in life . Whether GDM is causally related to these long‐term sequelae is unclear but preventing GDM might be one way of improving health into the future.…”