TY - JOUR
T1 - Gestational age at birth and cognitive outcomes in term-born children
T2 - Evidence from Chinese and British cohorts
AU - Sun, Zeyuan
AU - Zhang, Lu
AU - Ge, Qiaoyue
AU - Xiao, Chenghan
AU - Gale-Grant, Oliver
AU - Falconer, Shona
AU - Chew, Andrew
AU - Yu, Chuan
AU - Edwards, A. David
AU - Nosarti, Chiara
AU - Liu, Zhenmi
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 The Authors
PY - 2025/5
Y1 - 2025/5
N2 - Introduction: Older gestational age (GA) has been associated with more favourable cognitive outcomes in preterm children. Recent evidence suggests this may also apply to term-born children. This study aims to examine the association between GA and early neurodevelopmental outcomes in children born at term in China and the UK. Methods: Participants were term-born children from two cohorts, the Sichuan Multi-stratified Infants and Early Life (SMILE) study in China and the Developing Human Connectome Project (dHCP) in the UK. Early cognitive outcomes were assessed at 6 months in the SMILE study, and at 18 months in the dHCP. Linear regression models were conducted to examine the association between GA at birth and early cognitive outcomes in each cohort separately. Results: A sample of 1245 participants from the SMILE study and 406 participants for the dHCP were included in the analysis. In the SMILE study, longer GA was associated with better mental developmental (B = 2.47 [1.60, 3.34], P < .001) and psychomotor outcomes (B = 2.91 [2.01, 3.82], P < .001), after controlling for sex, parental education, family yearly income, maternal age, maternal depressive symptoms, and birth weight; in the dHCP, longer GA was associated with better cognitive (B = 1.35 [0.33, 2.37], P = .010) and motor outcomes (B = 1.49 [0.59, 2.39], P = .001), after controlling for sex, relative social deprivation, maternal depressive symptoms and birth weight. Conclusions: Older GA in term-born toddlers is associated with more favourable developmental outcomes across different cultural contexts.
AB - Introduction: Older gestational age (GA) has been associated with more favourable cognitive outcomes in preterm children. Recent evidence suggests this may also apply to term-born children. This study aims to examine the association between GA and early neurodevelopmental outcomes in children born at term in China and the UK. Methods: Participants were term-born children from two cohorts, the Sichuan Multi-stratified Infants and Early Life (SMILE) study in China and the Developing Human Connectome Project (dHCP) in the UK. Early cognitive outcomes were assessed at 6 months in the SMILE study, and at 18 months in the dHCP. Linear regression models were conducted to examine the association between GA at birth and early cognitive outcomes in each cohort separately. Results: A sample of 1245 participants from the SMILE study and 406 participants for the dHCP were included in the analysis. In the SMILE study, longer GA was associated with better mental developmental (B = 2.47 [1.60, 3.34], P < .001) and psychomotor outcomes (B = 2.91 [2.01, 3.82], P < .001), after controlling for sex, parental education, family yearly income, maternal age, maternal depressive symptoms, and birth weight; in the dHCP, longer GA was associated with better cognitive (B = 1.35 [0.33, 2.37], P = .010) and motor outcomes (B = 1.49 [0.59, 2.39], P = .001), after controlling for sex, relative social deprivation, maternal depressive symptoms and birth weight. Conclusions: Older GA in term-born toddlers is associated with more favourable developmental outcomes across different cultural contexts.
KW - Child
KW - Cognitive development
KW - Cohort study
KW - Gestational age
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=86000503979&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2025.106237
DO - 10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2025.106237
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:86000503979
SN - 0378-3782
VL - 204
JO - Early Human Development
JF - Early Human Development
M1 - 106237
ER -