Comprehensive Health Assessment of School-Age Children Conceived by Assisted Reproductive Technology: A Prospective Cohort Follow-Up Study

Objective

To assess the comprehensive health status of school-age children conceived through assisted reproductive technology (ART) compared to that of those conceived naturally.

Design

A prospective cohort study of children conceived through ART.

Setting

First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, China.

Population Sample

One hundred school-age children were enrolled and followed up (51 conceived via ART and 49 naturally conceived (controls)).

Methods

A comprehensive health status assessment was performed in children aged 6–12 years, including anthropometric measurements, glucose-lipid metabolism, echocardiography, intelligence, behaviour, vision and hearing. Multivariate regression models were used to adjust for sociodemographic and perinatal covariates.

Main Outcome Measures

Comprehensive health status of children conceived via ART.

Results

Children conceived by ART had similar height, weight, blood pressure, blood glucose and lipid profiles compared to the controls. Echocardiography showed similar cardiac geometric morphology and left/right ventricular diastolic-systolic function between the two groups. ART children had lower carotid intima-media thickness than controls (0.52 ± 0.11 vs. 0.58 ± 0.11). Visual acuity, hearing and intellectual and behavioural assessments were similar. An alternating covering test for the eyes showed a higher incidence of abnormal eye movement in the ART group than in the control group (87.76% vs. 68.89%).

Conclusions

The similar overall health status of ART- and naturally conceived children is reassuring for those receiving ART. However, our study shows a possible increase in the incidence of latent exotropia among ART children. Long-term follow-up is warranted to assess the overall health status associated with ART throughout the lifespan.