Understanding how hospitalization affects cognitive development is crucial to safeguard children's cognition; however, there is little research evaluating the associations between NICU or PICU hospitalization and survivors' cognition. The objective of this study is to identify and characterize the associations between a neonatal or pediatric ICU hospitalization and the short- and long-term cognition of survivors. The databases Cochrane Library, Medline, EBSCO, Embase, and Google Scholar and the journals JAMA Pediatrics, Journal of Pediatrics, Pediatrics, Archives of Disease in Childhood, Academic Pediatrics, Pediatric Critical Care Medicine and Child Development were searched until April 2021. Retrieved article references were analyzed. Included articles investigated cognition as an outcome of ICU hospitalization in non-preterm neonatal or pediatric patients. Case studies and studies analyzing diagnosis or treatment interventions were excluded. Four prospective cohort or case-control studies and two retrospective cohort studies were included, totaling 2172 neonatal and 42368 pediatric patients. Quality assessment using the BMJ Criteria and Cochrane Collaboration's Risk-of-Bias tool displayed good results. Significant negative associations were found between neonatal cognition and length-of-ICU-stay at 9- (p<0.001) and 24 months (p<0.01), and between pediatric cognition and length-of-ICU-stay at discharge (p<0.001). Additional weeks on the neonatal ICU increased odds of impairment at 9- (OR 1.08, 95%CI 1.034-1.112) and 24 months (OR 1.11, 95%CI 1.065-1.165).Conclusion: There is a significant negative correlation between NICU and PICU hospitalization and the short- and long-term cognitive status. Future research must identify patient- and hospital-related risk factors and develop management strategies. What is Known: • Cognitive development relies on the presence of stimulating factors and absence of risk factors, and is hypothesized to be directly and indirectly affected by hospitalization in the short and long term. • No research examines the relation between survivor cognition post-discharge of a general pediatric hospitalization, and scarcely more of a neonatal or pediatric intensive care hospitalization. What is New: • NICU and PICU hospitalization is independent risk factors for survivor impaired cognition in the short and in the long term with a dose-response effect. High risk patients for cognitive impairment should be identified and appropriately followed-up. • Patients with an ICU hospitalization of over 2.5 days and two or more of the following factors should be considered high risk: increased mortality risk, invasive interventions, neurological or oncological diagnosis, postnatal complications or decreased maternal mental health status.
Keywords: Cognition; Cognitive development; NICU (hospitalization); PICU (hospitalization); Post-discharge; Systematic development.
© 2021. The Author(s).