TY - JOUR
T1 - Associations of Antenatal Corticosteroids With Neurodevelopment in Children Aged 27–30 Months
T2 - A Population-Based Cohort Study
AU - Frier, Emily M.
AU - Lahti-Pulkkinen, Marius
AU - Lin, Chun
AU - Decrue, Fabienne
AU - Zoega, Helga
AU - Allegaert, Karel
AU - Been, Jasper
AU - Burgner, David
AU - Duhig, Kate
AU - Einarsdóttir, Kristjana
AU - Florian, Lani
AU - Fraser, Abigail
AU - Gissler, Mika
AU - Gyamfi-Bannerman, Cynthia
AU - Pedersen, Lars Henning
AU - Miller, Jessica
AU - Mol, Ben W.
AU - Murray, Sarah
AU - Norman, Jane
AU - Roberts, Devender
AU - Schuit, Ewoud
AU - Shi, Ting
AU - Sheikh, Aziz
AU - Vogel, Joshua P.
AU - Wood, Rachael
AU - McGoldrick, Emma
AU - Jacobsson, Bo
AU - Krispin, Eyal
AU - Reynolds, Rebecca M.
AU - Stock, Sarah J.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 The Author(s). BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
PY - 2025/6
Y1 - 2025/6
N2 - Objective: To examine the associations of antenatal corticosteroid (ACS) exposure with neurodevelopment in early childhood, and how these vary with gestational age at birth. Design: Population-based cohort study. Setting: Scotland, UK. Population: 285 637 singleton children born at 28–41 weeks' gestation, between 1st January 2011 and 31st December 2017, who underwent health reviews at 27–30 months of age. Methods: Logistic and linear regression analyses, stratified by gestation at birth (28–33, 34–36, 37–38 and 39–41 weeks' gestation), were used to evaluate the associations between ACS exposure and neurodevelopmental outcomes, and adjusted for maternal age, body mass index, diabetes, antenatal smoking, parity, neighbourhood deprivation, birth year, child sex and age at review. Main Outcome Measures: Practitioner-identified concerns about any neurodevelopmental domain, and the average of five domain scores on neurodevelopmental milestones from the parent-rated Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ-3). Results: After adjustment for covariates, ACS exposure was associated with reduced neurodevelopmental concerns in children born at 28–33 weeks' gestation (OR = 0.79, 95% CI = 0.62–0.999) and with increased neurodevelopmental concerns in children born at 34–36 weeks' gestation (OR = 1.11, 95% CI = 1.01–1.21). No independent associations emerged in children born at later gestations. ACS exposure was not associated with ASQ-3 scores in any gestational age group. Conclusions: In early childhood, ACS exposure was associated with statistically significantly reduced neurodevelopmental concerns in children born at 28–33 weeks' gestation, and with statistically significantly increased neurodevelopment concerns in children born at 34–36 weeks' gestation. However, the effect sizes of these associations were small. No independent associations were found between ACS exposure and neurodevelopment in term-born children.
AB - Objective: To examine the associations of antenatal corticosteroid (ACS) exposure with neurodevelopment in early childhood, and how these vary with gestational age at birth. Design: Population-based cohort study. Setting: Scotland, UK. Population: 285 637 singleton children born at 28–41 weeks' gestation, between 1st January 2011 and 31st December 2017, who underwent health reviews at 27–30 months of age. Methods: Logistic and linear regression analyses, stratified by gestation at birth (28–33, 34–36, 37–38 and 39–41 weeks' gestation), were used to evaluate the associations between ACS exposure and neurodevelopmental outcomes, and adjusted for maternal age, body mass index, diabetes, antenatal smoking, parity, neighbourhood deprivation, birth year, child sex and age at review. Main Outcome Measures: Practitioner-identified concerns about any neurodevelopmental domain, and the average of five domain scores on neurodevelopmental milestones from the parent-rated Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ-3). Results: After adjustment for covariates, ACS exposure was associated with reduced neurodevelopmental concerns in children born at 28–33 weeks' gestation (OR = 0.79, 95% CI = 0.62–0.999) and with increased neurodevelopmental concerns in children born at 34–36 weeks' gestation (OR = 1.11, 95% CI = 1.01–1.21). No independent associations emerged in children born at later gestations. ACS exposure was not associated with ASQ-3 scores in any gestational age group. Conclusions: In early childhood, ACS exposure was associated with statistically significantly reduced neurodevelopmental concerns in children born at 28–33 weeks' gestation, and with statistically significantly increased neurodevelopment concerns in children born at 34–36 weeks' gestation. However, the effect sizes of these associations were small. No independent associations were found between ACS exposure and neurodevelopment in term-born children.
KW - antenatal corticosteroids
KW - neurodevelopment
KW - preterm birth
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85219165085&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/1471-0528.18101
DO - 10.1111/1471-0528.18101
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85219165085
SN - 1470-0328
VL - 132
SP - 902
EP - 915
JO - BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology
JF - BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology
IS - 7
M1 - doi.org/10.1111/1471-0528.18101
ER -