Correlation Between Maternal Subclinical hypothyroidism and Intelligence and Movement Skills of Offspring at 1 Years of Age

Abstract

Abstract Background: Maternal subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) maybe impact development intelligence and movement skills of offspring. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the correlation between maternal SCH and offspring intelligence and movement skills on the 2017 American Thyroid Association diagnostic criteria. Methods: This was a two-way cohort study involving 185 women and their offspring within 1 year after delivery. There were 40 women and their offspring in the SCH group and 100 women and their offspring in the euthyroid (ET) group. The general condition and thyroid function of pregnant women and the condition of offspring at birth were recorded. At the age of 1 year, the offspring were scored with the Bailey infant development scale, including intelligence score and motor score. Results: There were no significant differences in maternal and child characteristics, birth weight and gestational age between SCH group and ET group. The mental development index (MDI) and psychomotor development index (PDI) levels in ET group were higher than that in SCH group [121(112,130)vs 114(108,128), P<0.05; 118(108,131)vs 113(101,127), P＜0.05.]. Multivariate logistic regression showed SCH during pregnancy was not associated with abnormal of intelligence and movement skills of offspring at 1 years of age (MDI OR, 0.112 95%CI, 0.012-1.359; PDI OR, 0.107 95%CI, 0.007-1.557). Conclusions: After levothyroxine treatment in the first trimester of pregnancy, there was no significant difference in the incidence of intellectual and motor developmental abnormalities of offspring at 1 years of age between the SCH group and ET group, however, the overall score of offspring in SCH group was still lower than that in ET group. Numerous studies are needed to further explore the correlation between SCH and offspring intelligence and movement skills.