Department of Global Health and Population, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
China Medical Board, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Lancet Planet Health. 2018 May;2(5):e214-e222. doi: 10.1016/S2542-5196(18)30068-8.
While there is evidence that sand and dust storms can have adverse health effects, the effects of such storms on children's cognitive function has not been explored. We examined whether prenatal exposure to sand and dust storms affects children's cognitive function and, if so, whether harmful effects of sand and dust storms vary by the trimester of exposure.
This study used nationally representative data from the China Family Panel Studies between 2010 and 2014 and data on sand and dust storms from the national Sand and Dust Weather Almanac. We selected four indicators of children's cognitive function: mathematics test scores, word-recognition test scores, the age the child began speaking in whole sentences, and the age the child began counting from one to ten. Since the annual incidence of sand and dust storms is highly variable and is largely unpredictable, we used a region-and-year fixed-effect model to compare the cognitive function of children born in the same region and year but with varying amounts of prenatal exposure to sand and dust storms. We also investigated whether the effect of sand and dust storms varied by the specific month of prenatal exposure.
We included 1236 observations for the analysis of mathematics and word-recognition test scores, 2693 observations in the analysis of the age the child began speaking in whole sentences, and 1951 observations for the analysis of the age the child began counting from one to ten. Every 10 additional days of prenatal exposure to sand and dust storms was associated with a 0·20 SD (95% CI 0·06 to 0·35, p=0·009) reduction in word test scores, 0·04 (-0·00 to 0·09, p=0·089) additional months to begin speaking in sentences, and 0·14 (0·03 to 0·25, p=0·021) additional months to begin counting, but was not significantly associated with mathematics test scores (reduction of 0·02 SD, -0·19 to 0·15). 10 additional days of prenatal exposure to sand and dust storms in the seventh gestational month was associated with a 0·18 SD (0·10 to 0·25) reduction in mathematics test scores, a 0·34 SD (0·18 to 0·50) reduction in word test scores, an additional 0·33 months (0·07 to 0·59) to begin speaking in sentences, and an additional 0·20 months (0·04 to 0·35) to begin counting.
Our results suggest that protecting pregnant women from the effects of sand and dust storms in the critical periods of fetal brain development could generate benefits for the cognitive function of the next generation.
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虽然有证据表明沙尘暴会对健康产生不良影响，但沙尘暴对儿童认知功能的影响尚未得到探索。我们研究了产前暴露于沙尘天气是否会影响儿童的认知功能，如果是，那么沙尘天气的有害影响是否因暴露于沙尘天气的妊娠季度而异。
本研究使用了 2010 年至 2014 年期间全国代表性的中国家庭纵向调查数据和国家沙尘天气年历中的沙尘天气数据。我们选择了儿童认知功能的四个指标：数学测试分数、单词识别测试分数、儿童开始说完整句子的年龄以及儿童开始从一数到十的年龄。由于沙尘天气的年发生率变化很大且在很大程度上不可预测，因此我们使用区域和年份固定效应模型来比较出生在同一地区和年份但产前暴露于沙尘天气程度不同的儿童的认知功能。我们还研究了沙尘天气的影响是否因产前暴露的具体月份而异。
我们对数学和单词识别测试分数的分析包括 1236 次观测，对儿童开始说完整句子年龄的分析包括 2693 次观测，对儿童开始从一数到十的年龄的分析包括 1951 次观测。产前暴露于沙尘天气每增加 10 天，单词测试分数就会降低 0.20 个标准差（95%CI 0.06 至 0.35，p=0.009），开始说句子的月份增加 0.04 个（-0.00 至 0.09，p=0.089），开始数数的月份增加 0.14 个（0.03 至 0.25，p=0.021），但与数学测试分数无显著相关性（降低 0.02 个标准差，-0.19 至 0.15）。第七个月产前暴露于沙尘天气增加 10 天，与数学测试分数降低 0.18 个标准差（0.10 至 0.25）、单词测试分数降低 0.34 个标准差（0.18 至 0.50）、开始说句子的月份增加 0.33 个月（0.07 至 0.59）和开始数数的月份增加 0.20 个月（0.04 至 0.35）有关。
我们的研究结果表明，在胎儿大脑发育的关键时期保护孕妇免受沙尘天气的影响，可能会为下一代的认知功能带来益处。
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