Antenatal corticosteroid administration and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in childhood: a regression discontinuity study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Antenatal corticosteroids reduce respiratory morbidity in preterm infants, but their use during late preterm gestation (34-36 weeks) is limited because their safety for longer-term child neurodevelopment is unclear. We sought to determine if fetuses with higher probability of exposure to antenatal corticosteroids had increased rates of prescriptions for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medication in childhood, using a quasiexperimental design that better controls for confounding than existing observational studies.

Methods

We identified 16 358 children whose birthing parents were admitted for delivery between 31 + 0 (31 weeks, 0 days) and 36 + 6 weeks' gestation in 2000-2013, using a perinatal data registry from British Columbia, Canada, and linked

SUBMITTER: Hutcheon JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8863198 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature