PP142. Independent effects of pregnancy induced hypertension on childhood development: A retrospective cohort study

The effect of maternal pre-eclampsia on neurological and cognitive development of children is not well known. A literature search of Ovid MEDLINE, EMBASE and CINAHL revealed differing opinions in the current literature. It would appear that there is uncertainty regarding the independent effects of preterm birth, birth weight and pre-eclampsia on early childhood development, complicated by the fact that most pre-eclamptic mothers are delivered preterm, and many such babies are growth restricted.

To assess whether maternal hypertension in pregnancy was independently associated with additional support needs in children

Retrospective cohort study Setting: Grampian region of Scotland Main outcome measure: The primary outcome of interest was whether a child had developed a record in the Support Needs System (Grampian). Secondary outcomes included the development of a particular disorder or deficiency for example, autism.

Linkage of birth records of all singleton deliveries occurring in primigravidae between 1995 and 2008 in Aberdeen Maternity and Neonatal Databank with the Support Needs System (SNS) dataset in Grampian. The database from which the study population is derived - the Aberdeen Maternity and Neonatal Databank (AMND) has been in existence since 1950 The Support Needs System (SNS) is part of a Scottish-wide database recording information about children who have additional support needs for more than six months and has been utilised in Grampian since 1998. The first exposed cohort comprised children whose mothers had pre-eclampsia or eclampsia and the second, those whose mothers had gestational hypertension. Children with normotensive mothers formed the unexposed cohort. Hypertensive status in pregnancy was based on Davey and MacGillivray's classification of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy. Crude and adjusted odds ratios with 95% confidence Intervals of having a record in SNS in the presence of maternal pregnancy induced hypertension were calculated using logistic regression taking account of confounders such as preterm birth and low birth weight.

After adjusting for confounding factors, neither pre-eclampsia {Adj OR 0.80 (95% CI 0.60,1.07)} nor gestational hypertension {Adj OR 1.16 (95% CI 0.99,1.36)} showed statistically significant associations with additional support needs. An association of pre-eclampsia with cerebral palsy seen on univariate analysis also disappeared on adjusting for confounders {Adj OR 1.26 (95% CI 0.43, 3.68)}. Birth before 32 weeks gestation and birthweight below 1500g were independently associated with additional support needs in children.

While maternal hypertension was not found to be independently associated with special needs in children, very preterm birth and very low birthweight showed an association.