Когнитивное и речевое развитие детей дошкольного возраста, зачатых путем вспомогательных репродуктивных технологий

Abstract

<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Objectives. </strong>The mental health of children conceived using assisted reproductive technologies (ART) is a growing concern for parents and professionals. With a maximum compliance with the conditions for using reproductive technologies, the birth of a healthy child is expected. But some children conceived through artificial insemination have developmental problems, speech and/or cognitive problems. A pilot study was conducted on the cognitive and speech development of children from 3 to 8 years old with the aim of a comparative analysis of children from induced pregnancy with children conceived naturally, to determine the possible impact of ART methods on children's health.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Methods.</strong> The cognitive and speech functions of 115 children aged 3 to 8 years were studied: 54 children from induced pregnancy were included in the experimental groups (EG 1 and EG 2) and 61 children from natural conception were included in the control groups (CG 1 and CG 2). The method of neuropsychological diagnostics of children of L.S. Tsvetkova and methods of speech therapy examination (assessment of the state of facial and articulatory muscles, breathing, prosodic speech, general speech development) were used. The results were processed through the qualitative and quantitative assessment of the correspondence of the child’s cognitive and speech development to normative ontogenesis.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Results. </strong>It has been determined that children conceived through ART have a high percentage of perinatal risk: 35% of children (n=54) conceived through ART have: mental disorders (autism, intellectual disability) and various speech disorders in 77% of cases, — which has a negative impact on the development of cognitive activity. In children conceived naturally (n=61), the percentage of disorders was lower: in 47% of cases, cognitive disorders were noted, and in 60% of children, speech disorders of mild to moderate severity were identified.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Conclusions</strong>. The hypothesis about the possible influence of the fertilization methods used, the characteristics of the procedure, the health status of the parents before conception, the course of the mother’s pregnancy and other prenatal factors on the occurrence of developmental disorders in children conceived through ART is supported. An interdisciplinary approach to organizing research will allow a comprehensive study of the developmental features of children from induced pregnancy and the timely identification of possible dysontogenetic risk factors.</p>