Physiological and neuropsychological development in children born after assisted reproductive technology

Objective To analysis newborn stage and long-term physiological and neuropsychological development in children born after assisted reproductive technology(ART),and to evaluate the safety of ART.Methods Eighty-four 6-month-old to 6-year-old children born after ART performed from January 1st,2006 to June 30th,2011 in Reproduction Center of Fuzhou General Hospital were taken as ART group; and 84 matched children born after spontaneous conception were as control group.The physiological and neuropsychological states of these children in their newborn stage and 6-month-old to 6-year-old duration were compared with Chi-square or t test.Results There was no statistical difference in childbearing age of mothers,the prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus and hypcrtensive disorder complicating pregnancy,delivery mode,living environment,parents' education level,newborn birth length,birth weight,the rate of premature birth,low birth weight,asphyxia and hospitalized to neonatal intensive care unit between two groups (P＞0.05).In ART group,the incidence of growth retardation and abnormal social life skills was 6.0 ％ (5/84) and 1.2 ％ (1/84),and no statistical difference were found comparing with control guoup [4.8％(4/84) and 1.2％(1/84),x2 =0.12 and 0.00,P＞0.05],neither the developmental quotient (95.9±6.1 vs 94.8±5.1,t=1.25,P=0.21).Twins had higher rates of preterm birth [41.8％ (33/79) vs 10.1％(9/89),x2 =22.37,OR=6.38,95％CI:2.81-14.50,P=0.00],low birth weight [51.9％(41/79) vs 6.7％(6/89),x2=42.35,OR=14.93,95％ CI:5.84-38.16,P=0.00],asphyxia [10.1 ％ (8/79) vs 1.1 ％(1/89),x2 =6.69,OR=9.92,95％ CI:1.21～81.15,P=0.01],hospitalized to neonatal intensive care unit [36.7 ％ (29/79) vs 14.6 ％ (13/89),x2 =10.90,OR =3.39,95％CI:1.61-7.14,P=0.00] and growth retardation [11.4％(9/79) vs 0.0％(0/89),x2=10.71,RR=0.11,P=0.00] than singleton.Conclusions ART has no negative effects on children's physical and neuropsychological development.It could increase the incidence of twins,so that it might increase the incidences of preterm labor and low birth weight,which might affect the long-term physical and neuropsychological development of the offspring. Key words: Reproductive techniques,assisted; Infant,newborn; Child; Body size; Body weight; Child development