Risk of Global Developmental Delay in Infants Born from Mothers with COVID-19: A Cross-Sectional Study

Pedro Ykaro Fialho Silva; Maria Clara Lima da Cruz; Ingrid Guerra Azevedo; Rafaela Silva Moreira; Klayton Galante Sousa; Silvana Alves Pereira

doi:10.2147/IJWH.S389291

Risk of Global Developmental Delay in Infants Born from Mothers with COVID-19: A Cross-Sectional Study

Int J Womens Health. 2023 Apr 1:15:467-474. doi: 10.2147/IJWH.S389291. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Pedro Ykaro Fialho Silva¹, Maria Clara Lima da Cruz¹, Ingrid Guerra Azevedo², Rafaela Silva Moreira³, Klayton Galante Sousa⁴, Silvana Alves Pereira¹

Affiliations

¹ Physical Therapy Department, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil.
² Dirección de Investigación, Universidad Católica de Temuco, Temuco, La Araucania, Chile.
³ Physical Therapy Department, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Araranguá, Santa Catarina, Brazil.
⁴ Physical Therapy Department, Faculdade de Ciências da Saúde do Trairí, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Santa Cruz, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil.

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the risk of global developmental delay in infants born from mothers with COVID-19.

Patients and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted between March and November 2021, with 54 infants of both sexes aged between 1 and 12 months. Twenty-seven infants born from mothers diagnosed with COVID-19 during pregnancy composed the COVID-19 group, whereas infants born from mothers not exposed to COVID-19 composed the control group. Medical records and child health booklets provided neonatal and prenatal data. The Survey of Wellbeing of Young Children screened the risk of global developmental delay during a phone interview or home visit. Chi-squared, Mann-Whitney test, and binary logistic regression were applied.

Results: The risk of motor developmental delay was identified in 15 infants (12 in the COVID-19 group), while 36 were at risk of behavioral alteration (22 in the COVID-19 group). The COVID-19 group presented a 6.3-fold risk of motor developmental delay. Motor developmental delay was also significantly associated with socioemotional alterations (odds ratio = 6.4, p = 0.01). Regarding families of infants in the COVID-19 group, 63% of the mothers presented risk of depression, 51.9% risk of substance abuse, 40.7% risk of food insecurity, and 7.4% risk of domestic violence. The inflexibility subscale of the survey was a statistically relevant variable for the socioemotional domain.

Conclusion: Infants born from mothers with COVID-19 were at high risk of motor developmental delay and socioemotional alterations. Although, this study fills an important gap in the literature regarding the influence of maternal exposure to COVID-19 on infant development, new studies screening families with infants at risk of developmental delay may significantly impact maternal and child health-related indicators, such as physical health, emotional development and social behavior.

Keywords: COVID-19; infant development; infant well-being.

Grants and funding

This research received no specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.