Abstract 2. Mann JR and McDermott S. Arematernal genitourinary infection and pre-eclampsia associated withADHD in school-aged children? J Atten Disord2011;15(8):667-73.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the hypothesis thatmaternal genitourinary infection (GU) infection is associated withincreased risk of ADHD. METHOD: The authorsobtained linked Medicaid billing data for pregnant women and theirchildren in South Carolina, with births from 1996 through 2002 andfollow-up data through 2008. Maternal GU infections andpre-eclampsia were identified on the basis of diagnoses made duringpregnancy, and cases of ADHD were identified on the basis ofdiagnoses made in the child's Medicaid file.RESULTS: There were 84,721 children in the dataset used for analyses. Maternal genitourinary infection wasassociated with significantly increased odds of ADHD (OR = 1.29,95% CI = 1.23-1.35). Pre-eclampsia was also associated withincreased risk (OR = 1.19, 95% CI = 1.07-1.32). Children whosemothers had both GU infection and pre-eclampsia were 53% morelikely to have ADHD, compared to those with neither exposure. Whenwe examined specific infection diagnoses, chlamydia/nongonococcalurethritis, trichomoniasis, urinary tract infection, andcandidiasis were associated with increased risk of ADHD, whereasgonorrhea was not. DISCUSSION: Maternal GUinfection appeared to be associated with increased risk of ADHD,and based on the findings it was concluded that further research isneeded to describe the mechanism(s) underlying the association.
The authors report “pre-eclampsia was also associated withincreased risk (OR=1.19, 95% CI=1.07-1.32” of ADHD. Based only onthis statement, which of the following is most likely NOTresponsible for this observed result?
| a | Confounding by gestational age |
| b | Systematic error |
