Abstract
This study examined the contribution of the Apgar score at 1 and 5 min after birth to later cognitive functioning in 168 individuals with Down syndrome who were between 6 and 25 years of age at time of cognitive testing. Our results showed that a lower Apgar score at 1 min was related to a worse performance in later cognitive measures of receptive vocabulary, verbal comprehension and production, visual memory and working memory. Results also showed that a lower Apgar score at 5 min was only related to worse later outcomes of verbal comprehension and production and auditory working memory. Our findings suggest a need for future studies investigating how specific perinatal events reflected in the Apgar score are linked to later cognitive functioning in individuals with Down syndrome.
Highlights
This study examined the contribution of the Apgar score at 1 and 5 min after birth to later cognitive functioning in 168 individuals with Down syndrome who were between 6 and 25 years of age at time of cognitive testing
Among the factors contributing to this variability, those occurring in the perinatal period may be of special importance because this is a period of great vulnerability for the developing b rain[24]
With the exception of chronological age (CA) of the participants at the time of cognitive testing, we found no significant associations between the demographic variables and either the Apgar scores or any of the cognitive outcomes
Summary
This study examined the contribution of the Apgar score at 1 and 5 min after birth to later cognitive functioning in 168 individuals with Down syndrome who were between 6 and 25 years of age at time of cognitive testing. Our findings suggest a need for future studies investigating how specific perinatal events reflected in the Apgar score are linked to later cognitive functioning in individuals with Down syndrome. Understanding which factors contribute to the observed within-syndrome variability is crucial, and one of the main challenges to an etiology-specific approach to intervention for those with DS13 In this regard, previous investigations have suggested that differences in genetic[14,15,16] and environmental factors[17,18] between individuals with DS are related to the degree of impairment in specific cognitive and behavioral areas. In addition to delivery complications, a low Apgar score at 5 min has been suggested to reflect events or conditions prior to birth (e.g., abnormalities of gestational length and prenatal growth, congenital malformation)[40], which may have an impact on neurodevelopment[41,42] and cognitive function[43]. It is important to note that those events and conditions occurring during pregnancy can Scientific Reports | (2021) 11:12707
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