Children born to mothers with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) are at greater risk of a wide range of psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders, according to new a population-based cohort study. The study, based in Finland, includes all live births between 1996 and 2014 (n?=?1,105,997). National registries were used to link data of the included births and their mothers. Data from 24,682 (2.2%) children born to mothers with PCOS were compared with 1,073,071 (97.8%) children born to mothers without PCOS.
or psychiatric disorder. Compared with PCOS-unexposed offspring, children to mothers with PCOS were at higher risks of any neuropsychiatric disorder (HR 1.32; 95% CI 1.27–1.38). Particularly, the risk was increased for sleeping disorders (HR 1.46; 95% CI 1.27–1.67), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorders and conduct disorders (HR 1.42; 95% CI 1.33–1.52), tic disorders (HR 1.42; 95% CI 1.21–1.68), intellectual disabilities (HR 1.41; 95% CI 1.24–1.60), autism spectrum disorder (HR 1.40; 95% CI 1.26–1.57), specific developmental disorders (HR 1.37; 95% CI 1.30–1.43), eating disorders (HR 1.36; 95% CI 1.15–1.61), anxiety disorders (HR 1.33; 95% CI 1.26–1.41), mood disorders (HR 1.27; 95% CI 1.18–1.35) and other behavioral and emotional disorders (ICD-10 F98, HR 1.49; 95% CI 1.39–1.59). These findings are relevant to women with PCOS with respect to pregnancy counseling and offspring developmental monitoring. Further studies are warranted to confirm our results and investigate underlying pathways and mechanisms linking PCOS exposure to long-term neurodevelopmental consequences.
Reference:
Chen X et al. Hum Reprod. 2020; Epub ahead of print. Abstract
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