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Long‐term alpha‐tocopherol supplements may improve mental development in extremely low birthweight infants
Author(s) -
Kitajima Hiroyuki,
Kanazawa Tadahiro,
Mori Rintaro,
Hirano Shinya,
Ogihara Tohru,
Fujimura Masanori
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
acta paediatrica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1651-2227
pISSN - 0803-5253
DOI - 10.1111/apa.12854
Subject(s) - medicine , intelligence quotient , pediatrics , gestational age , birth weight , odds ratio , low birth weight , group b , mental development , pregnancy , psychiatry , developmental psychology , cognition , psychology , biology , genetics
Aim Methods to improve the mental development of extremely low birthweight ( ELBW ) children are currently lacking. We assessed the effects of long‐term supplementation of alpha‐tocopherol on the neurological development of 259 school‐aged ELBW children. Methods Extremely low birthweight participants were divided into three groups: group A with no alpha‐tocopherol supplementation (n = 121); group B with the supplementation for <6 months (n = 104) and group C with the supplementation for more than 6 months (n = 34). We analysed the participants’ data at birth and between the ages of one‐and‐a‐half to 8 years and evaluated potential factors associated with intellectual disabilities. Results Children from group C had the best outcome. The groups’ mean gestational weeks and mean ventilator days were as follows: 27.5 weeks, 16.1 days (group A); 25.7 weeks, 41.7 days (group B); and 25.1 weeks, 75.5 days (group C). Multivariate regression analysis revealed that the odds ratios for impaired mental development at 8 years were 1.5 in group B and 0.19 (p = 0.017) in group C, compared with 1.0 in group A. The association between the duration of alpha‐tocopherol administration and performance intelligence quotient ( IQ ) was dose dependent (p = 0.03). Conclusion Long‐term supplementation of alpha‐tocopherol appeared to improve mental development, in particular, performance IQ , in school‐aged ELBW children.