Association between the use of folic acid supplements during pregnancy and children's cognitive function at 7-9 years of age in the INMA cohort study

Compañ Gabucio, Laura María; Torres-Collado, Laura; García-de-la-Hera, Manoli; Fernández-Somoano, Ana; Tardón, Adonina; Júlvez Calvo, Jordi; Sunyer Deu, Jordi; Rebagliato, Marisa; Murcia, Mario; Ibarluzea, Jesús; Santa Marina, Loreto; Vioque, Jesus

doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191912123

Association between the use of folic acid supplements during pregnancy and children's cognitive function at 7-9 years of age in the INMA cohort study

Llicència

Citació

Compañ-Gabucio LM, Torres-Collado L, Garcia-de la Hera M, Fernández-Somoano A, Tardón A, Julvez J, Sunyer J, Rebagliato M, Murcia M, Ibarluzea J, Santa-Marina L, Vioque J. Association between the use of folic acid supplements during pregnancy and children's cognitive function at 7-9 years of age in the INMA cohort study. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Sep 25;19(19):12123. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph191912123

Resum

This study investigated the association between maternal low (<400 μg/day) or high (≥1000 μg/day) folic acid supplements (FAs) use during pregnancy and the attentional function and working memory in boys and girls at age 7-9. A longitudinal analysis based on 1609 mother-child pairs from the Spanish Infancia y Medio Ambiente Project was carried out. Multivariable regression analyses revealed that, compared to the recommended FAs use, a low FAs use during the second period of pregnancy was associated with a lower alertness in all children (β = 18.70 ms; 95% CI: 7.51; 29.89) and in girls (β = 30.01 ms; 95% CI: 12.96; 47.01), and with a lower N-back Task performance in boys (d' number 2-back (β = -0.25; 95% CI: -0.49; 0.01)). A high FAs use throughout the two periods of pregnancy was associated with a better N-back Task performance only in girls (d' number 2-back (β = 0.28; 95% CI: 0.01; 0.56) and d' number 3-back (β = 0.32; 95% CI: 0.08; 0.56)). The maternal use of FAs beyond the periconceptional period may affect children's attentional function and working memory at age 7-9 differently for boys and girls.