Long-term impact of tobacco exposure during pregnancy on children's psychomotor development.

Abstract

Both active and passive smoking can cause complications during pregnancy and after delivery. This study aimed to assess how tobacco exposure (active and passive) during the fetal period could impact the psychomotor development of children when they attain the age of 3-6 years. The study included 160 mothers and their 3-6 years old children. Two research groups were set up with children born from active/passive smoking mothers during the period when they were pregnant and a control group with children of non-smoking ones. The parameters of the psychomotor development of the children were measured using the Age & Stage Questionnaires 3 test (ASQ-3). Children, whose mothers were smokers themselves or exposed to second hand smoking (SHS) during the period of pregnancy, have an average psychomotor development of 221 points versus 243.5 points in the control group. 26% have delays (near/under the cutoff scores) in one of the assessed psychomotor areas and 60% have two or more psychomotor delays, while the 36% of children whose mothers weren't exposed at all to smoking during pregnancy had normal psychomotor development and only 34% of them presented multiple psychomotor delays. Fetuses exposed to tobacco are more likely to achieve a psychomotor development up to the monitor and fail areas compared to control group. The children exposed to smoking during their fetal development should be considered as a group in risk for developmental delays, therefore they should be closely monitored and support by caregivers and developmental pediatricians.