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Maternal smoking and neurodevelopmental outcomes in infants <29 weeks gestation: a multicenter cohort study

Abstract

Objective

To compare neurodevelopmental outcomes of preterm infants at 18–21 months corrected age (CA) whose mothers smoked during pregnancy to those whose mothers did not smoke.

Study design

Preterm infants born at <29 weeks of gestation and evaluated at 18–21 months CA were included. Primary outcome was a composite outcome of death or neurodevelopmental impairment (NDI).

Results

Of a total of 2760 infants, 699 met exclusion criteria. Of the remaining 2061 infants, 280 (13.6%) were exposed to maternal smoking and 1781 (86.4%) were not. The odds of the composite outcome of death or NDI (aOR 1.40; 95% CI: 1.03–1.91), NDI alone (aOR 1.43; 95% CI: 1.01–2.03), and Bayley-III motor score <85 (aOR 1.91; 95% CI: 1.31–2.81) were higher in exposed infants.

Conclusions

Exposure to maternal smoking was associated with adverse composite outcome of death or NDI, NDI alone and lower motor scores at 18–21 months CA.

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Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge all investigators and data abstractors of the Canadian Neonatal and Follow-Up Networks. We also thank Sarah Hutchinson, PhD, from the Maternal-Infant Care Research Centre for editorial assistance in the preparation of this manuscript.

Funding

Organizational support was provided by the Maternal-Infant Care Research Centre (MiCare) at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, ON, Canada. Neonatal follow-up data were supported by a team grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (FRN87518) awarded to Dr. Shoo Lee, and in-kind support from Mount Sinai Hospital. Dr. Prakesh Shah holds an Applied Research Chair in Reproductive and Child Health Services and Policy Research awarded by the CIHR (APR-126340). The funding agencies had no role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript; and decision to submit the manuscript for publication.

Canadian Neonatal Network site investigators

Prakesh S. Shah, MD, MSc (Director, Canadian Neonatal Network and site investigator), Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Ontario; Adele Harrison, MD, MBChB, Victoria General Hospital, Victoria, British Columbia; Anne Synnes, MDCM, MHSC, and Joseph Ting, MD, B.C. Women’s Hospital and Health Centre, Vancouver, British Columbia; Zenon Cieslak, MD, Royal Columbian Hospital, New Westminster, British Columbia; Rebecca Sherlock, MD, Surrey Memorial Hospital, Surrey, British Columbia; Wendy Yee, MD, Foothills Medical Centre, Calgary, Alberta; Khalid Aziz, MBBS, MA, MEd, and Jennifer Toye, MD, Royal Alexandra Hospital, Edmonton, Alberta; Carlos Fajardo, MD, Alberta Children’s Hospital, Calgary, Alberta; Zarin Kalapesi, MD, Regina General Hospital, Regina, Saskatchewan; Koravangattu Sankaran, MD, MBBS, and Sibasis Daspal, MD, Royal University Hospital, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan; Mary Seshia, MBChB, Winnipeg Health Sciences Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba; Ruben Alvaro, MD, St. Boniface General Hospital, Winnipeg, Manitoba; Amit Mukerji, MD, Hamilton Health Sciences Centre, Hamilton, Ontario; Orlando Da Silva, MD, MSc, London Health Sciences Centre, London, Ontario; Chuks Nwaesei, MD, Windsor Regional Hospital, Windsor, Ontario; Kyong-Soon Lee, MD, MSc, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario; Michael Dunn, MD, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ontario; Brigitte Lemyre, MD, Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario and Ottawa General Hospital, Ottawa, Ontario; Kimberly Dow, MD, Kingston General Hospital, Kingston, Ontario; Victoria Bizgu, MD, Jewish General Hospital, Montréal, Québec; Keith Barrington, MBChB, Hôpital Sainte-Justine, Montréal, Québec; Christine Drolet, MD, and Bruno Piedboeuf, MD, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Québec, Sainte Foy, Québec; Martine Claveau, MSc, LLM, NNP, and Marc Beltempo, MD, McGill University Health Centre, Montréal, Québec; Valerie Bertelle, MD, and Edith Masse, MD, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Québec; Roderick Canning, MD, Moncton Hospital, Moncton, New Brunswick; Hala Makary, MD, Dr. Everett Chalmers Hospital, Fredericton, New Brunswick; Cecil Ojah, MBBS, and Luis Monterrosa, MD, Saint John Regional Hospital, Saint John, New Brunswick; Akhil Deshpandey, MBBS, MRCPI, Janeway Children’s Health and Rehabilitation Centre, St. John’s, Newfoundland; Jehier Afifi, MB BCh, MSc, IWK Health Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia; Andrzej Kajetanowicz, MD, Cape Breton Regional Hospital, Sydney, Nova Scotia; Shoo K Lee, MBBS, PhD (Chairman, Canadian Neonatal Network), Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Ontario.

Canadian Neonatal Follow-Up Network

Thevanisha Pillay, MD, Victoria General Hospital, Victoria, British Columbia; Anne Synnes, MDCM, MHSC (Director, CNFUN), B.C. Women’s Hospital and Health Centre, Vancouver, British Columbia; Reg Sauvé, MD, MPh, Leonora Hendson MBBCH, MSc, Alberta’s Children’s Hospital, Foothills Medical Centre, Calgary, Alberta; Amber Reichert, MD, Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital, Edmonton, Alberta; Jaya Bodani, MD, Regina General Hospital, Regina, Saskatchewan; Koravangattu Sankaran, MD, Royal University Hospital, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan; Diane Moddemann, MD, Winnipeg Health Sciences Centre, St. Boniface General Hospital, Winnipeg, Manitoba; Chuks Nwaesei, MD, Windsor Regional Hospital, Windsor, Ontario; Thierry Daboval, MD, Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, Ottawa, Ontario; Kimberly Dow, Kingston General Hospital, Kingston, Ontario; David Lee, MD, Children’s Hospital London Health Sciences Centre, London, Ontario; Linh Ly, MD, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario; Edmond Kelly, MD, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Ontario; Salhab el Helou, MD, Hamilton Health Sciences Centre, Hamilton, Ontario; Paige Church, MD, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ontario; Ermelinda Pelausa, MD, Jewish General Hospital, Montréal, Québec; Patricia Riley, MD, Montréal Children’s Hospital, Royal Victoria Hospital, Montréal, Québec; Francine Levebrve, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Sainte-Justine, Montréal, Québec; Charlotte Demers, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Québec; Sylvie Bélanger, MD, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Québec, Québec City, Québec; Roderick Canning, MD, Moncton Hospital, Moncton, New Brunswick; Luis Monterrosa, MD, Saint John Regional Hospital, Saint John, New Brunswick; Hala Makary, MD, Dr. Everett Chalmers Hospital, Fredericton, New Brunswick; Michael Vincer, MD, IWK Health Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia; Phil Murphy, Charles Janeway Children’s Health and Rehabilitation Centre, St. John’s, Newfoundland.

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Correspondence to Abhay Lodha.

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Members of the Canadian Neonatal Network and the Canadian Neonatal Follow-Up Network are listed below the Acknowledgements.

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Ediger, K., Hasan, S.U., Synnes, A. et al. Maternal smoking and neurodevelopmental outcomes in infants <29 weeks gestation: a multicenter cohort study. J Perinatol 39, 791–799 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41372-019-0356-3

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