The effect of assisted reproductive technology on infant physical and neurodevelopment

Objective: To explore the effect of assisted reproductive technology(ART)on the physical and neuro-logical development of full-term offspring during infancy, and to promote the formulation of early intervention measures.Methods: The full-term offspring who received delivery after undergoing ART in Wuhan First Hospi-tal from January 2020 to January 2021 were recruited (ART group) and divided into ART singleton group (n=166)and ART twin group(n=26).The full-term offspring from naturally conceived(NC)pregnancies delivered in Wuhan First Hospital during the same period were recruited(NC group)and divided into NC singleton group(n=166) and NC twin group (n=10).The physical and neurodevelopmental status of the offspring in the ART group and the NC group at birth was compared, and the physical and neurodevelopmental status of the offspring at 12 months of age was followed up.Logistic regression was used to analyze the related influencing factors of ART, and independent sample t-test and Chi-squared test were used to statistically analyze the basic situation, infant physical growth and neurodevelopmental indicators of the included study offspring.Results: The childbearing age and cesarean section rate of parents in the ART group were higher than those in the NC group(P< 0.05), and the older childbearing age of parents was a significant influencing factor in the ART group; the singleton group and twin group were compared with the NC singleton group and NC twin group, respectively.There were no statistically significant differences in weight, body length, and head circumference from birth to 12 months of age (P> 0.05); there were no statistically significant differences in Neonatal Behavioral Neurological Assessment (NBNA) scores between the ART group and the NC group offspring (P> 0.05); at the age of 12 months of follow-up, there were no significant differences in total developmental quotient and various functional areas (P> 0.05) when evaluated with the Pediatric Heart Scale (2016 version).Conclusion: There are no signifi-cant differences in physical and neurodevelopment between ART and NC full-term offspring in infancy.There is no increased risk of stunting in the full-term offspring of ART twins.