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Developmental outcomes of Japanese children born through Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) in toddlerhood
Author(s) -
Aoki Sayaka,
Hashimoto Keiji,
Ogawa Kohei,
Horikawa Reiko,
Sago Haruhiko
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of obstetrics and gynaecology research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.597
H-Index - 50
eISSN - 1447-0756
pISSN - 1341-8076
DOI - 10.1111/jog.13613
Subject(s) - medicine , language development , significant difference , demography , pediatrics , developmental psychology , psychology , sociology
Aim This study aimed to investigate developmental outcomes of Japanese babies born through Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) at ages 2 and 3. Methods The data were gathered from 1085 children in a hospital‐based cohort study conducted in Japan. The children's level of development was assessed through a parent‐rated questionnaire, the Kinder Infant Development Scale, which consists of nine developmental domains. We compared the development of children born through ART and those born naturally by conducting analyses of covariance. For the analyses, the effect of maternal age, family income, parental education and multiple birth were controlled for. Results At 24 months, no significant difference was found between children born through ART and those born naturally in development in any domain. At 36 months, a significant difference was found in development of Receptive language ( F (1, 845) = 6.148, P = 0.013), Expressive language ( F (1, 845) = 4.060, P = 0.044) and Language concept ( F (1, 845) = 6.968, P = 0.008). For these domains, children born through ART had a significantly higher developmental age compared to children born naturally. Conclusion At age 2, no significant difference was found between the children born through ART and those born naturally in nine developmental domains, although at age 3, the children born through ART showed significantly better language development than the children born naturally.