Bell GA, et al. - Whether or not maternal polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is associated with developmental delays in offspring is investigated. Outcomes of this study suggest a higher risk of failure on the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ) among offspring of mothers with PCOS.

Methods

• Infants born between 2008 and 2010 in New York State (excluding New York City) were included in the Upstate KIDS Study, a population-based prospective cohort study.
• This study was originally designed to study—and finding no impact of—infertility treatment exposure on child development.
• Up to 36 months of age, children were followed.
• One or more developmental screening instruments were completed by 4453 mothers for 5388 children (35.5% twins) up to 36 months of age.
• Researchers identified 458 mothers (10.3%) reporting a healthcare provider’s diagnosis of PCOS, as well as the related treatment received, on the baseline study questionnaire.
• The ASQ was completed by parents on their child’s development at 4, 8, 12, 18, 24, 30 and 36 months of age to assess fine motor, gross motor, communication, personal–social functioning and problem-solving cognitive domains.
• Using generalized linear mixed models, they determined odds ratios (OR) between PCOS diagnosis and failures in the ASQ adjusted for maternal age, race, BMI, education, marital status, smoking, alcohol consumption, diabetes, insurance and plurality.

Results

• Researchers identified an increased risk of the offspring failing the fine motor domain (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 1.77; 95% CI: 1.09, 2.89), largely driven by higher risk in female singletons (aOR = 2.23; 1.16, 4.29) in association with the diagnosis of PCOS.
• A higher risk of failing the communication (aOR = 1.94; 1.19, 3.18) and personal–social functioning (aOR = 1.76; 1.12, 2.77) domains was noted among twins of mothers with PCOS vs those born to mothers without PCOS.
• Compared to offspring of women without PCOS, women reporting reception of no treatment for their PCOS had offsprings demonstrating stronger association with failing the ASQ (aOR = 1.68; 0.95, 2.75) compared to those born to PCOS women who had received PCOS treatment (aOR = 1.16; 0.79, 1.73).