Associations between newborn Thyroid Stimulating Hormone concentration and neurodevelopment and growth of children at 18 months

Molla Mesele Wassie, Lisa Gaye Smithers, Lisa Nicole Yelland, Maria Makrides, Shao Jia Zhou

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The study aimed to assess the associations between newborn thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) concentration, a marker of iodine nutrition in early life, and childhood neurodevelopment and growth using data collected from two pregnancy studies, one in a borderline iodine-deficient setting (DHA to Optimize Mother Infant Outcome (DOMInO) Study) and one in an iodine-sufficient setting (Pregnancy Iodine and Neurodevelopment in Kids (PINK) Study). TSH data were obtained from routine newborn screening. Neurodevelopment was assessed at 18 months using the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, third edition (Bayley-III). Weight, height and head circumference were measured at 18 months. In total, 1467 children were included in the analysis. Comparing the highest with the lowest TSH quartile, the mean differences (MD) in the Bayley-III scores ranged from -2·0 (95 % CI -4·7, 0·7) to -2·2 (95 % CI -5·8, 1·3) points in DOMInO and 1·0 (95 % CI -1·6, 3·6) to 2·0 (95 % CI -0·4, 4·4) points in PINK in the cognitive, language and motor scales; the MD in the anthropometric z scores ranged from -0·01 (95 % CI -0·5, 0·5) to -0·5 (95 % CI -0·9, -0·1) in both studies. A 1 mIU/l increase in TSH was associated with -0·3 (95 % CI -0·9, 0·2) point and 0·2 (95 % CI -0·3, 0·7) point changes in the mean cognitive score in the DOMInO and PINK, respectively. A null association between TSH and growth was also observed in both studies. Longitudinal studies that utilise newborn TSH data and examine neurodevelopmental outcomes at later ages are warranted, as neurodevelopmental assessments in older children are more predictive of later achievement.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1478-1488
Number of pages11
JournalBritish Journal of Nutrition
Volume126
Issue number10
Early online date26 Jan 2021
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 28 Nov 2021
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Bayley-III
  • development
  • growth
  • iodine
  • Key words:
  • thyroid stimulating hormone
  • TSH
  • Growth
  • Key words: Thyroid-stimulating hormone
  • Development
  • Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, third edition
  • Iodine

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