Association Between the COVID-19 Pandemic and Infant Neurodevelopment: A Comparison Before and During COVID-19

Journal article

Aim: To investigate the association between the experience of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and neurodevelopment of 6-month-old and 1-year-old children and explore the differences in the association by birth order. Methods: This comparison study was embedded in the Born in Guangzhou Cohort Study in China. The exposed group included 546 6-month-old and 285 1-year-old children who attended neurodevelopment assessments between March 1 and May 15, 2020, and the non-exposed group included 3,009 6-month-old and 2,214 1-year-old children during the same months from 2015 to 2019. Neurodevelopment at age 6 months and 1 year was assessed by trained clinical staff using the Ages and Stages Questionnaires, third edition (ASQ-3) and the Gesell Developmental Schedules (GDS). Results: The experience of the pandemic in 2020 was associated with a higher risk of delay in the fine motor (adjusted OR: 2.50, 95% CI: 1.25, 4.99; estimated by logistic regression) and communication (adjusted RR [aRR]: 1.13, 95% CI: 1.02, 1.25; estimated by log-binomial regression) domains at age 1 year. The association between the experience of the pandemic and communication delay at age 1 year only existed in first-born children (aRR: 1.15, 95% CI: 1.03, 1.30) but not in later-born children (aRR: 1.02, 95% CI: 0.84, 1.25). No associations were observed in any domain among 6-month-olds. Conclusion: Experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic and related public health strategies might be associated with a higher risk of delay in the development of fine motor and communication in 1-year-old children; the association observed in the communication domain only existed in first-born children

Authors: Huang, P; Zhou, F; Guo, Y; Yuan, S; Lin, S

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Frontiers Media
• Journal: Frontiers in Pediatrics
• Volume: 9
• Pages: 662165-662165
• Publication date: 2021-10-06
• DOI: 10.3389/fped.2021.662165
• EISSN: 2296-2360
• ISSN: 2296-2360
• Language: English
• Keywords: Relative risk; Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19); Cohort; Medicine; Pandemic; Cohort study; Logistic regression; Pediatrics; Public health; Infectious disease (medical specialty); Demography; Internal medicine; Disease; Confidence interval