NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL DEFICITS IN CHILDREN OF DIABETIC MOTHERS - A REPORT FROM COLLABORATIVE STDY OF CEREBRAL PALSY

The question, whether maternal diabetes adversely affects intrauterine brain development as reflected in I.Q. of children, was studied prospectively. Complications of diabetes, such as severity (White's classification), acetonuria, insulin reaction, and prematurity, were studied. Subjects were matched with nondiabetic controls for hospital of birth, race, sex, socieconomic index, birth order, and maternal age. Diabetic mothers with acetonuria (N = 62) had offspring with lower I.Q. (X = 93) than controls (X = 102), (p < 0.001). However, the offspring of diabetic patients without acetonuria (N = 44) had I.Q. equal to their controls (X = 101). The association between maternal diabetes complicated by acetonuria and I.Q. of the children was present in mild (including gestational) as well as in severe diabetes. No significant effect of insulin reactions in the mother on I.Q. of the offspring was demonstrated. The association of diabetes with acetonuria in respect to I.Q. of offspring was independent of duration of pregnancy. © 1969.