The effects of maternal asthma during pregnancy on child cognitive and behavioral development: A systematic review

ABSTRACT

Objective: Maternal asthma during pregnancy is associated with a higher risk of negative perinatal outcomes. However, little is known about the direct effects of maternal asthma on infant cognitive development. We examined the evidence for an impact of maternal asthma during pregnancy on cognitive and behavioral development of the child. Data sources: We conducted a MEDLINE, PsychINFO, and manual search of the databases for all available studies until January 9th, 2018. Study Selections: Studies were deemed relevant if they included child cognitive and behavioral development as the outcome, with maternal asthma as the determinant of interest. Results: Ten articles matched selection criteria. Some studies report that maternal asthma is associated with increased risk for autism and intellectual disability in children. However, these effects are small and are often eliminated when controlling for confounding variables. Other studies have found no association. The only prospective study found that well-managed asthma during pregnancy was not associated with negative developmental outcomes in children. Conclusions: The evidence suggests that the relationship between maternal asthma during pregnancy and poor developmental and behavioral outcomes of children is weak. Children of mothers with well-managed asthma during pregnancy have similar developmental trajectories to those born to healthy mothers. Prospective, longitudinal studies are needed to confirm these conclusions. Optimal asthma management is important in pregnancy as it may have longer term benefits for the health of the offspring. As the rate of asthma increases in the population, the implications of maternal asthma on child development will be of greater importance.

KEYWORDS:

• Asthma
• asthma during pregnancy
• behavioral development
• child development
• cognitive development
• maternal asthma
• pregnancy
• systematic review

Disclosure statement

OW and CM were supported by an Australian Postgraduate Awards. V.E.M. was supported by an Australian Research Training Fellowship (part-time, grant ID 455626) and Career Development Fellowship from the NHMRC (grant ID 1084816). This research received no specific grant support from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. The authors declare that they have no relevant conflicts of interest. This review did not require ethical approval.

Acknowledgement

Our thanks to Max W. Katz-Barber for his assistance with reviewing articles for this paper.