Gillberg Neuropsychiatry Centre, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
Department of Environmental Medicine, Kochi Medical School, Kochi University, Nankoku, Kochi, Japan.
PLoS One. 2021 May 20;16(5):e0251581. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0251581. eCollection 2021.
The association between birth month and neurodevelopmental or psychiatric disorders has been investigated in a number of previous studies; however, the results have been inconsistent. This study investigated the association between birth month and child gross motor development at 6 and 12 months of age in a large cohort of infants (n = 72,203) participating in the Japan Environment and Children's Study (JECS). Gross motor development was assessed using the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ-3). At 6 months and 12 months, 20.7% and 14.2%, respectively, had ASQ-3 indications of gross motor problems. Birth month was strongly associated with gross motor development at both time points, particularly at 6 months. Summer-born infants had the worst outcomes at both 6 months and 12 months of age. This outcome applied to the ASQ-3 score itself and to the adjusted Relative Risk (aRR), with the highest aRRs (relative to January-born) among August-born (aRR 2.51; 95%CI 2.27-2.78 at 6 months), and June-born (aRR 1.84; 95%CI 1.63-2.09 at 12 months). Boys had better scores than girls both at 6 and 12 months of age. We speculate that seasonal factors-such as maternal vitamin D deficiency and influenza infection-affecting the fetus in early pregnancy might account for the findings.
先前有许多研究调查了出生月份与神经发育或精神疾病之间的关联，但结果并不一致。本研究调查了参加日本环境与儿童研究（JECS）的大量婴儿（n=72203）的出生月份与 6 个月和 12 个月大时儿童粗大运动发育之间的关联。粗大运动发育使用年龄和阶段问卷（ASQ-3）进行评估。在 6 个月和 12 个月时，分别有 20.7%和 14.2%的婴儿有 ASQ-3 粗大运动问题的迹象。出生月份与两个时间点的粗大运动发育均密切相关，尤其是在 6 个月时。夏季出生的婴儿在 6 个月和 12 个月时的结果最差。这种结果适用于 ASQ-3 评分本身和调整后的相对风险（aRR），8 月出生的婴儿（6 个月时的 aRR 为 2.51；95%CI 2.27-2.78）和 6 月出生的婴儿（12 个月时的 aRR 为 1.84；95%CI 1.63-2.09）的 aRR 最高。男孩在 6 个月和 12 个月时的得分均高于女孩。我们推测，影响妊娠早期胎儿的季节性因素，如母体维生素 D 缺乏和流感感染，可能是造成这一结果的原因。
