Abstract
Aim: To investigate the association between the experience of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and neurodevelopment of 6-month-old and 1-year-old children and explore the differences in the association by birth order.Methods: This comparison study was embedded in the Born in Guangzhou Cohort Study in China. The exposed group included 546 6-month-old and 285 1-year-old children who attended neurodevelopment assessments between March 1 and May 15, 2020, and the non-exposed group included 3,009 6-month-old and 2,214 1-year-old children during the same months from 2015 to 2019. Neurodevelopment at age 6 months and 1 year was assessed by trained clinical staff using the Ages and Stages Questionnaires, third edition (ASQ-3) and the Gesell Developmental Schedules (GDS).Results: The experience of the pandemic in 2020 was associated with a higher risk of delay in the fine motor (adjusted OR: 2.50, 95% CI: 1.25, 4.99; estimated by logistic regression) and communication (adjusted RR [aRR]: 1.13, 95% CI: 1.02, 1.25; estimated by log-binomial regression) domains at age 1 year. The association between the experience of the pandemic and communication delay at age 1 year only existed in first-born children (aRR: 1.15, 95% CI: 1.03, 1.30) but not in later-born children (aRR: 1.02, 95% CI: 0.84, 1.25). No associations were observed in any domain among 6-month-olds.Conclusion: Experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic and related public health strategies might be associated with a higher risk of delay in the development of fine motor and communication in 1-year-old children; the association observed in the communication domain only existed in first-born children.
Highlights
The pandemic of COVID-19 emerged in December 2019 in Wuhan, China [1, 2]
The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between the experience of the COVID-19 pandemic and neurodevelopment of children aged 6 months and 1 year and explore the differences in the association by birth order. This comparison analysis was part of the Born in Guangzhou Cohort Study (BIGCS), an ongoing prospective birth cohort conducted in the Guangzhou Women and Children’s Medical Center (GWCMC), China
At age 1 year, experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 was associated with a higher risk of communication delay in first-born children, while this association was not observed in those who were laterborn
Summary
The pandemic of COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019; the pathogen called SARS-CoV-2, formerly 2019-nCoV) emerged in December 2019 in Wuhan, China [1, 2]. A series of non-pharmaceutical intervention-based public health strategies have been applied in China to control the spread of COVID-19, including isolating confirmed cases, contact tracing, quarantine of exposed persons, travel restrictions, school and workplace closures, cancellation of mass gatherings, etc. While such strategies have effectively controlled COVID-19 transmission across China and substantially reduced the number of cases [4], it has been suggested that these strategies may be associated with poorer mental health and development of school-aged children and adolescents [5–7]. Whether this association exists among children at a younger age (e.g., infants) has not been investigated. The pandemic has led to increased anxiety and depression in the population [11], and mental health issues of parents and caregivers may have negative impacts on child development [12]
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