Intelligence quotient scores at the age of 6 years in children anaesthetised before the age of 5 years

• Published in: Anaesthesia Vol. 72; no. 1; pp. 57 - 62
• Main Authors: Heer, I. J., Tiemeier, H., Hoeks, S. E., Weber, F.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-01-2017
• Subjects: Age; anaesthetic drugs; Anesthesia; Anesthetics - adverse effects; Anesthetics - pharmacology; Child; Child Development - drug effects; Child, Preschool; children; Cognition - drug effects; Cohort Studies; Confounding Factors (Epidemiology); Databases, Factual; Developmental Disabilities - chemically induced; Educational Status; Female; Humans; Intelligence - drug effects; intelligence quotient scores; Intelligence Tests; Male; Mothers - statistics & numerical data; Neurocognitive Disorders - chemically induced; neurodevelopment; neurotoxicity; Pediatrics; intelligence quotient scores; anaesthetic drugs; neurotoxicity; neurodevelopment; children
• ISSN: 0003-2409; 1365-2044
• DOI: 10.1111/anae.13687

Summary
We analysed the association of independent variables with non‐verbal cognition at 6 years in children with complete data (3441 from a cohort of 9901), of whom 415 were anaesthetised before the age of 5 years. Using multivariable regression, cognition was reduced by a mean (95% CI) score for children: anaesthetised before the age of 5 years, 2.1 (0.7–3.5), p = 0.004; born prematurely, 9.8 (4.1–15.4), p = 0.001; whose mothers smoked while pregnant, 2.3 (0.8–3.8), p = 0.004; whose mothers had lower IQ scores, 0.3 (0.2–0.3) for each unit reduction in maternal IQ, p < 0.0001. The association of child IQ with exposure to anaesthetic drugs was sensitive to missing data.