Effects of Maternal Metabolic Conditions on Infant Neurodevelopment From Birth to 6 Months of age

• In Event: Poster Session 05
  In Poster Session: PS 05 Topic - Biological Processes: Psychophysiology

Abstract

Increasing rates of diabetes and obesity among women in developed countries highlight an important concern for how these conditions affect mothers and their offspring (Deputy et al., 2018). Pre-existing diabetes (DM) and gestational diabetes (GDM) increase chances of perinatal complications (Ogata, 2010). While recent medical advances have improved short-term outcomes, less is known about the long term effects on these infants. Previous research shows that infants born to mothers with metabolic conditions, including GDM, DM, and/or obesity, are at higher risk for neurodevelopmental delays (Ornoy et al., 2001; Sanchez et al., 2018). Few studies have examined these effects within infancy. One study found accelerated language development in infants born to obese mothers at 6 months, followed by rapid deceleration at 18 months (Torres-Espinola et al., 2015). Another found that maternal obesity was associated with reduced cognitive development in infants 11-22 months of age (Casas et al., 2013). The current study examined the effects of maternal self-reported metabolic conditions on infant neurodevelopment from birth to 6 months of age. It was hypothesized that metabolic conditions in the biological mother would predict lower sensorimotor and cognitive development within the first 6 months of life.

Participants were part of a longitudinal, multi-site investigation, that is developing PediaTrac, a caregiver report instrument to track infant/toddler development. Participants (N = 532) included pre-term (n = 230) and full-term (n = 300) infant-caregiver dyads who were enrolled at birth and are followed for 18 months. Sample characteristics are described in Table 1. The self-reported medical history included questions about the biological mother’s DM, obesity, and GDM. A ‘metabolic condition’ variable was created by collapsing the endorsement of any of the three conditions into one variable. Developmental outcomes were measured using the sensorimotor (SEM) and social/communication/cognition (SCG) composites from PediaTrac at birth (or term-equivalent) 2, 4, and 6 months. Mothers’ of preterm infants were older and endorsed more metabolic conditions.

Separate two stage hierarchical regression models were tested at each age with SEM and SCG composites as the outcomes. Maternal age, maternal education, infant sex, and birth weight were entered in block one to control for known factors that contribute to developmental delays while metabolic condition was added in block two. We found that reported metabolic conditions, maternal age, maternal education, and birthweight significantly predicted SEM composite scores at birth (accounting for 5% of the variance). Higher SEM at birth was predicted by metabolic conditions, older maternal age, lower education levels, and lower infant birth weight (see Table 2). Reported metabolic conditions did not significantly predict SEM or SCG composite scores at any other age.

Maternal metabolic conditions predicted significantly better infant sensorimotor development at birth but not thereafter. These findings do not support the hypothesis, nor are they entirely consistent with previous research. These unexpected results highlight the need for further research on the effects of maternal metabolic conditions in pregnancy and early infant development.

Authors

• Kirsten Oard, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
  Presenting Author

• Seth Warschausky, University of Michigan Health System
  Non-Presenting Author

• Angela Lukomski, Eastern Michigan University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Renee Lajiness-O'Neill, Eastern Michigan University
  Non-Presenting Author