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Neurodevelopmental outcome in 7‐year‐old children is not affected by exercise during pregnancy: follow up of a multicentre randomised controlled trial
Author(s) -
Ellingsen MS,
Pettersen A,
Stafne SN,
Mørkved S,
Salvesen KÅ,
Evensen KAI
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
bjog: an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.157
H-Index - 164
eISSN - 1471-0528
pISSN - 1470-0328
DOI - 10.1111/1471-0528.16024
Subject(s) - medicine , pregnancy , randomized controlled trial , offspring , pediatrics , adverse effect , physical therapy , genetics , biology
Objective To investigate whether regular moderate intensity exercise during pregnancy had adverse effect on neurodevelopment of offspring at 7 years of age. Design Follow up of a multicentre randomised controlled trial. Setting St Olavs Hospital, Trondheim University Hospital and Stavanger University Hospital, Norway (2007–09). Population Women randomised to follow a 12‐week structured exercise protocol or standard antenatal care during pregnancy. Methods At 7 years of age, neurodevelopmental outcome was assessed by the parent questionnaire Five‐To‐Fifteen (FTF), including motor skills, executive functions, perception, memory, language, social skills and possible emotional/behavioural problems. Main outcome measure Continuous and dichotomised (cut‐off 90th centile) FTF scores. Results A total of 855 women were randomised to exercise ( n = 429) or standard antenatal care ( n = 426) during pregnancy. At follow up, 164 (38.2%) children born to mothers in the intervention group and 115 (27.0%) children born to mothers in the control group participated. We found no group differences in FTF scores or in the proportion of children with scores ≥90th centile. Stratified analyses by sex, subgroup analyses of women who adhered to the exercise protocol or sensitivity analyses excluding preterm children and/or children who had been admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit did not change the results. Conclusions In the present randomised controlled trial follow‐up study, regular moderate intensity exercise during pregnancy did not have adverse effect on neurodevelopment of offspring at 7 years of age. Tweetable abstract Moderate intensity exercise during pregnancy had no adverse effect on neurodevelopment of offspring at 7 years of age.