Dataset Information

Hypertensive disorders in pregnancy and cognitive decline in the offspring up to old age.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

We tested whether maternal hypertensive disorders in pregnancy predict age-related change in cognitive ability in the offspring up to old age.

Methods

Using mothers' blood pressure and urinary protein measurements from the maternity clinics and birth hospitals, we defined normotensive or hypertensive pregnancies in mothers of 398 men, who participated in the Helsinki Birth Cohort 1934-1944 Study. The men underwent the Finnish Defence Forces basic ability test twice: first during compulsory military service at age 20.1 (SD = 1.4) years and then in a retest at age 68.5 (SD = 2.9) years. The test yields a total score and subscores for tests measuring verbal, arithmetic, and visuospatial reasoning.

Results

Men born after pregnancies complicated by a hypertensive disorder, compared with men born after normotensive pregnancies, scored 4.36 (95% confidence interval, 1.17-7.55) points lower on total cognitive ability at 68.5 years and displayed a greater decline in total cognitive ability (2.88; 95% confidence interval, 0.07-5.06) after 20.1 years. Of the subscores, associations were strongest for arithmetic reasoning.

Conclusion

Maternal hypertensive disorders in pregnancy predict lower cognitive ability and greater cognitive decline up to old age. A propensity to lower cognitive ability and decline up to old age may have prenatal origins.

SUBMITTER: Tuovinen S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3475625 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Hypertensive disorders in pregnancy and cognitive decline in the offspring up to old age.

Tuovinen Soile S Räikkönen Katri K Kajantie Eero E Henriksson Markus M Leskinen Jukka T JT Pesonen Anu-Katriina AK Heinonen Kati K Lahti Jari J Pyhälä Riikka R Alastalo Hanna H Lahti Marius M Osmond Clive C Barker David J P DJ Eriksson Johan G JG

Neurology 20121003 15

<h4>Objective</h4>We tested whether maternal hypertensive disorders in pregnancy predict age-related change in cognitive ability in the offspring up to old age.<h4>Methods</h4>Using mothers' blood pressure and urinary protein measurements from the maternity clinics and birth hospitals, we defined normotensive or hypertensive pregnancies in mothers of 398 men, who participated in the Helsinki Birth Cohort 1934-1944 Study. The men underwent the Finnish Defence Forces basic ability test twice: firs ...[more]

PMID: 23035059

Similar Datasets

Project description:ImportanceHypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) have been associated with poorer neurodevelopmental outcomes in offspring, but the role of familial confounding in these associations is unclear.ObjectiveTo investigate associations of maternal HDP with risks in offspring of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and intellectual disability (ID), as well as variation in overall cognitive performance in offspring.Design, setting, and participantsThis Swedish register-based study used data from a birth cohort divided into 1 085 024 individuals born between 1987 and 1996 and followed up until December 31, 2014, and 285 901 men born between 1982 and 1992 who attended assessments for military conscription, including a cognitive function test. Statistical analysis was performed from April 1, 2019, to June 1, 2020.ExposuresDiagnoses of HDP, which were provided by the Medical Birth Register.Main outcomes and measuresDiagnoses of ASDs, ADHD, and ID were extracted from the National Patient Register. Cognitive function was assessed using written tests and summarized as a single 9-point score. Whole-cohort and within-sibship analyses were performed; the latter accounted for unmeasured familial confounding factors shared by siblings.ResultsThe study included 1 085 024 individuals (556 912 male participants [51.3%]) born between 1987 and 1996 and 285 901 men born between 1982 and 1992 who attended assessments for military conscription. The prevalence of maternal HDP was 4.0% in the 1987-1996 birth cohort (n = 42 980) and 5.1% in the military conscription cohort (n = 14 515). A total of 15 858 participants received a diagnosis of ASD, 36 852 received a diagnosis of ADHD, and 8454 received a diagnosis of ID. The mean (SD) cognitive score among the men in the conscription cohort was 5.1 (1.9). In whole-cohort analyses with multivariable adjustment, HDP were associated with offspring ASDs (hazard ratio [HR], 1.22; 95% CI, 1.13-1.31), ADHD (HR, 1.10; 95% CI, 1.05-1.16), and ID (HR, 1.39; 95% CI, 1.27-1.53). Analyses comparing siblings discordant for HDP were less statistically powered but indicated estimates of similar magnitude for ASDs (HR, 1.19; 95% CI, 1.00-1.42) and possibly ADHD (HR, 1.09; 95% CI, 0.95-1.24), but not for ID (HR, 1.04; 95% CI, 0.83-1.29). Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy were associated with somewhat lower cognitive scores in whole-cohort analysis (mean difference comparing offspring exposed with those unexposed, -0.10; 95% CI, -0.13 to -0.07), but in within-sibship analysis, the association was null (mean difference, 0.00; 95% CI, -0.09 to 0.08).Conclusions and relevanceThe study results suggest that HDP are associated with small increased risks of ASDs and possibly ADHD in offspring, whereas associations with ID and cognitive performance are likely confounded by shared familial (environmental or genetic) factors.

Dataset Information

Hypertensive disorders in pregnancy and cognitive decline in the offspring up to old age.

Objective

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Publications

Hypertensive disorders in pregnancy and cognitive decline in the offspring up to old age.

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