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Table 3 Summary of the studies examining associations of maternal vitamin D status with offspring cognitive function

From: Association between maternal nutritional status in pregnancy and offspring cognitive function during childhood and adolescence; a systematic review

Author, Year, Sample size, Age, Country, Study design

Nutrient

Cognitive function

Results after adjustment for confounders

QS and RB

20Gale C; 2008

 N = 178

 Age 9 years

 UK

 Prospective longitudinal

Serum vitamin D concentrations assessed at 28-42 weeks gestation

21.2 % had <27.5 nmol/L

28.3 % had 27.5-50 nmol/L

Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence

Full-scale, verbal or performance IQ

No association between vitamin D concentrations and offspring IQ (full-scale, verbal or performance)

Confounders adjusted for: Unadjusted

16 Medium

21Whitehouse AJO; 2012

 Age 5 years (n = 534)

 Age 10 years (n = 474)

 Australia

 Prospective longitudinal

Serum vitamin D concentrations assessed at 18 weeks gestation

25.2 % mothers had insufficiency (≤46 nmol/L)

(lowest quartile)

Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test Receptive language

Children of mothers with vitamin D insufficiency (lowest quartile (≤46 nmol/L) were at increased risk (OR = 1.97) of language impairment compared to children of mothers without insufficiency (highest quartile (≥72 nmol/L; OR = 1.00)

Confounders adjusted for: MA, MS, parity, family income, season of maternal blood sampling

13 Medium

22Morales E; 2012

 N = 1820

 Age 11-23 Months

 Spain

 Prospective population based

 cohort study

Plasma vitamin D concentrations assessed during 12-23 weeks gestation

19.5 % mothers had deficiency (<20 ng/ml)

31.5 % had insufficiency (20-30 ng/ml)

Bayley Scales of Infant Development (mental (MDI) and psychomotor (PDI) developmental score)

A positive linear association between vitamin D concentrations and MDI and PDI

Per 10 ng/ml increase in vitamin D concentrations MDI and PDI score increased by β = 0.79 and β = 0.88 points respectively

Compared to infants of deficient mothers, infants of mothers with normal level scored higher MDI (β = 2.60) and PDI (β = 2.32) points respectively

Confounders adjusted for: The child’s sex, BWT, area of study, maternal country of origin, MA, parity, pre-pregnancy BMI, SES, ME, MS, alcohol and season

15 Medium

  1. QS quality score, RB risk of bias, MA maternal age, BWT birthweight, ME maternal education, MS maternal smoking, BMI body mass index, SES socio-economic status