The effect of maternal haematocrit on offspring IQ at 4 and 7 years of age: a secondary analysis

Abstract

Objective: To determine whether maternal haematocrit during pregnancy is associated with offspring IQ.

Design/setting/population: A secondary analysis of the Collaborative Perinatal Project, which enrolled women between 1959 and 1966 at 12 university hospitals in the United States.

Methods: We evaluated the relation between maternal haematocrit and IQ at 4 and 7 years of age. Linear and log-linear regression models were used to adjust for possible confounders. Marginal structural models with stabilised weights were used to account for selection bias due to children lost to follow up.

Main outcome measures: Offspring IQ at 4 and 7 years of age.

Results: Of 35 959 patients, 1521 (4.2%) had moderate anaemia, 13 769 (38.3%) had mild anaemia, 18 227 (50.7%) had a normal haematocrit, and 2442 (6.8%) had a high haematocrit. The mean IQ at 4 and 7 years was significantly lower in the moderate and mild anaemia groups than in the normal haematocrit group (92.3 and 94.7 versus 100.6, respectively, P < 0.01, at 4 years; and 90.2 and 93.4 versus 99.1 at 7 years, P < 0.01). The high haematocrit group had a significantly higher mean IQ (104.5 at 4 years; 103.2 at 7 years) when compared with the normal haematocrit group (P < 0.01). Women with moderate anaemia were more likely to have children with IQ of 70-84 at 4 years (RR 1.22, 95% CI 1.08-1.38) and <70 at 7 years (RR 1.59, 95% CI 1.14-2.23). Women with a high haematocrit were more likely to have children with an IQ ≥120 at 7 years (RR 1.22, 95% CI 1.08-1.39).

Conclusions: Maternal haematocrit is associated with offspring IQ at 4 and 7 years of age.

Tweetable abstract: There is a nonlinear relation between maternal haematocrit and offspring IQ at 4 and 7 years of age.

Keywords: IQ; maternal anaemia; maternal haematocrit.