Association of Gestational Age at Term and Delivery Circumstance with Childhood Attention Problems
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Authors
Allswede, Dana
Issue Date
2013
Type
Thesis
Language
en_US
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Abstract
Early term birth (ET: 3 7-38 weeks) has been associated with an increased risk of childhood attention problems relative to full term birth (FT: 39-41 weeks). However, little is known about why subgroups of children born within the term range exhibit such difficulties. The contributions of delivery circumstance to child attention problems were also investigated using follow-up data from the Pregnancy Outcomes and Community Health (POUCH) Study. Women who delivered at term and completed the sex- and age referenced Conners' Parent Rating Scales (CPRS) were included in the present analysis (N=610: children's ages: 3-9 years). General linear models were used to investigate whether ET was associated with higher levels of attention problems relative to FT and whether delivery via labor with caesarean delivery (LC) or no labor with caesarean delivery (NLC) were associated with higher levels of attention problems relative to labor with vaginal delivery (LV). We found that those with an LC delivery profile exhibited higher level of attention problems in childhood than those delivered via LV. This suggests that prenatal and/or postnatal complications related to LC delivery may predispose infants to attention problems. Investigating this association is an important next step to better understand the origins of ADHD.
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v, 80 p.
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