The Association between the Five-Minute Apgar Score and Neurodevelopmental Outcomes among Children Aged 8?66 Months in Australia

Tahir Ahmed Hassen, Catherine Chojenta, Nicholas Egan and Deborah Loxton
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Tahir Ahmed Hassen: Centre For Women’s Health Research, School of Medicine and Public Health, College of Health, Medicine and Wellbeing, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia
Catherine Chojenta: Centre For Women’s Health Research, School of Medicine and Public Health, College of Health, Medicine and Wellbeing, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia
Nicholas Egan: Centre For Women’s Health Research, School of Medicine and Public Health, College of Health, Medicine and Wellbeing, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia
Deborah Loxton: Centre For Women’s Health Research, School of Medicine and Public Health, College of Health, Medicine and Wellbeing, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 12, 1-9

Abstract: This study aimed to evaluate the association of the five-minute Apgar score and neurodevelopmental outcomes in children by taking the entire range of Apgar scores into account. Data from the Australian Longitudinal Study of Women’s Health (ALSWH) and Mothers and their Children’s Health (MatCH) study were linked with Australian state-based Perinatal Data Collections (PDCs) for 809 children aged 8?66 months old. Generalized estimating equations were used to model the association between the five-minute Apgar scores and neurodevelopmental outcomes, using STATA software V.15. Of the 809 children, 614 (75.3%) had a five-minute Apgar score of 9, and 130 (16.1%) had an Apgar score of 10. Approximately 1.9% and 6.2% had Apgar scores of 0?6 and 7?8, respectively. Sixty-nine (8.5%) of children had a neurodevelopmental delay. Children with an Apgar score of 0?6 (AOR = 5.7; 95% CI: 1.2, 27.8) and 7?8 (AOR = 4.1; 95% CI: 1.2, 14.1) had greater odds of gross-motor neurodevelopment delay compared to children with an Apgar score of 10. Further, when continuously modelled, the five-minute Apgar score was inversely associated with neurodevelopmental delay (AOR = 0.75; 95% CI: 0.60, 0.93). Five-minute Apgar score was independently and inversely associated with a neurodevelopmental delay, and the risks were higher even within an Apgar score of 7?8. Hence, the Apgar score may need to be taken into account when evaluating neurodevelopmental outcomes in children.

Keywords: Apgar score; neurodevelopment; children; Australia (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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