Háskóli ÍslandsUniversity of IcelandSverrisson, Friðgeir A.Bateman, Brian T.Aspelund, ThorSkúlason, SigurgrímurZoega, Helga2019-09-232019-09-232018-11-21Sverrisson FA, Bateman BT, Aspelund T, Skulason S, Zoega H (2018) Preeclampsia and academic performance in children: A nationwide study from Iceland. PLoS ONE 13(11): e0207884. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.02078841932-6203https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11815/1259Publisher's version (útgefin grein)Background Hypertensive disorders complicate up to 10% of pregnancies. Evidence suggests a potential association between maternal hypertensive disorders during pregnancy, particularly preeclampsia, and adverse neurodevelopment in the offspring, but existing studies are subject to limitations. We aimed to assess whether in-utero exposure to preeclampsia/eclampsia negatively impacts academic performance at ages 9, 12 and 15 years. Methods Using individually linked, nationwide data from the Icelandic registries we followed all children born in 1989–2004 (N = 68,580), from birth until the end of 2014, thereof 63,014 (91.9%) took at least one standardized test. Using a stepwise, mixed-effects approach, we modelled the hypothesized relationship while adjusting for maternal, perinatal and childhood variables of interest. We compared test scores, measured on a normalized scale ranging from 0–60 with a mean of 30 and a standard deviation of 10, in the 4th, 7th, and 10th grades, between children exposed to preeclampsia or eclampsia in-utero versus children from normotensive pregnancies in the population. Results Children exposed to preeclampsia/eclampsia scored lower than those unexposed in mathematics across all grade levels, corresponding to a difference of 0.44 points (95% CI: 0.00, 0.89), 0.59 points (95% CI: 0.13, 1.06) and 0.59 points (95% CI: 0.08, 1.10), respectively. No differences were observed in the language arts. Conclusions Our findings suggest a minimal effect of maternal preeclampsia/eclampsia on children’s academic performance at ages 9, 12 and 15 years. The differences observed in mathematic scores between exposed and unexposed children were minimal, less than one tenth of a standard deviation per measurement occasion.e0207884eninfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessHypertensive disorders in pregnancyPreeclampsiaADHDBirthPediatricsAcademic skillsHáþrýstingurMeðgangaMenntunFærniBörninfo:eu-repo/semantics/articlePlos One10.1371/journal.pone.0207884