Dataset Information

The effect of prenatal lithium exposure on the neuropsychological development of the child.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

Lithium is an effective treatment for bipolar disorder, also during pregnancy to prevent the recurrence of episodes in the perinatal period. Little is known about the neuropsychological development of lithium-exposed offspring. The current study was designed to investigate neuropsychological functioning in lithium-exposed children with the aim to provide further knowledge on the long-term effects of lithium use during pregnancy.

Methods

Participants were offspring of women with a diagnosis of bipolar spectrum disorder, aged 6-14 years. In total, 99 children participated in the study, 56 were exposed to lithium in utero and 43 were not exposed to lithium. Neuropsychological tests were administered, including the Snijders-Oomen Nonverbal Intelligence Test and the NEPSY-II-NL assessment. Linear and negative binomial regression models were used to investigate the association between prenatal lithium exposure and neuropsychological functioning. In secondary analyses, the association between lithium blood level during pregnancy and neuropsychological functioning was assessed. Additionally, norm scores and percentiles for task outcomes were calculated.

Results

Lithium use during pregnancy was associated with the total number of mistakes made on the Auditory Attention task, but not statistically significant after full adjustment for potential confounding factors. No association between prenatal lithium exposure and IQ was found. Also, no relationship between lithium blood level during pregnancy and neuropsychological functioning was found after adjustment for potential confounders. Task outcomes in both groups were comparable to the general population.

Conclusion

In this study, we found no evidence for significantly altered neuropsychological functioning of lithium-exposed children at the age of 6-14 years, when compared to non-lithium-exposed controls.

SUBMITTER: Poels EMP

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9293321 | biostudies-literature | 2022 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

The effect of prenatal lithium exposure on the neuropsychological development of the child.

Poels Eline M P EMP Schrijver Lisanne L White Tonya J H TJH Roza Sabine J SJ Zarchev Milan G MG Bijma Hilmar H Honig Adriaan A van Kamp Inge L IL Hoogendijk Witte J G WJG Kamperman Astrid M AM Bergink Veerle V

Bipolar disorders 20211005 3

<h4>Objectives</h4>Lithium is an effective treatment for bipolar disorder, also during pregnancy to prevent the recurrence of episodes in the perinatal period. Little is known about the neuropsychological development of lithium-exposed offspring. The current study was designed to investigate neuropsychological functioning in lithium-exposed children with the aim to provide further knowledge on the long-term effects of lithium use during pregnancy.<h4>Methods</h4>Participants were offspring of wo ...[more]

PMID: 34585812

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Dataset Information

The effect of prenatal lithium exposure on the neuropsychological development of the child.

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Publications

The effect of prenatal lithium exposure on the neuropsychological development of the child.

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