Abstract
To investigate the effect of iodine supplementation during gestation on the neurocognitive development of children in areas where iodine deficiency is common. Based on the PRISMA methodology, we conducted the search for articles in the PubMed, LILACS and Scopus databases, between March and April 2020, without limitation of dates. We used descriptors in English, Portuguese, and Spanish, without filters. Four clinical trials and four cohort articles were included in the review. The maximum supplementation was 300 μg of potassium iodide per day. The Bayley scale and Children's Communication Checklist-Short were used to assess neurodevelopment in children. There was no significant improvement in the children's mental development index and behavioural development index in the supplemented group; however, the psychomotor development index (PDI) showed improvement in the poorer gross motor skills. We found differences in the response time to sound in the supplemented group living in mild deficiency areas. Daily supplementation with iodine can improve poor psychomotor development of children living in mild to moderate iodine deficiency areas. Thus, it is necessary to perform further studies to assess the effect of supplementation on neurodevelopment before, during and after gestation in mild to moderate iodine deficiency areas.
Highlights
Iodine deficiency affects almost 2 billion people worldwide (1)
To ensure sufficient iodine intake, women who are planning pregnancy, pregnant or lactating should be recommended by the American Thyroid Association and European Thyroid Association to ingest daily oral supplements containing 150 μg of iodine (6,7)
The results found an association between supplementation with 150 μg of KI/day and poorer gross motor skills of the psychomotor development index (PDI) standardized beta 0.18 in one study (25), but in another four studies (24,26,27,29) supplementation with ≥ 150 μg of KI/day was associated with a 5.2-point decrease in PDI (95% confidence interval: -8.1, -2.2), decrease in PDI with < 85, odds ratio: 1.7 (95% confidence interval: 1.1, 2.6)
Summary
In 2017, 18 countries were identified in which women of reproductive age were iodine-deficient, whereas for pregnant women, this was found in 39 countries (2). Inadequate iodine intake in the foetal period may cause dwarfism, cretinism, mental retardation, deafness, psychomotor defects, or congenital anomalies, and may lead to miscarriage or stillbirth (3). Throughout growth, it negatively affects physical and neurocognitive development, especially hippocampal development and memory functions, and in adult life, causes goiter and hypothyroidism (4). This review aimed to investigate the effect of iodine supplementation during gestation on children’s neurocognitive development in iodine deficiency areas
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