SynthesisPloS one2023
The association between maternal infection and intellectual disability in children: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in PloS one, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 7 citations in OpenAlex.
- Antiemetic use during pregnancy and child neurodevelopment: population-based birth cohort study.BMC medicine · 2025Article
- The Immune/Inflammatory Underpinnings of Neurodevelopmental Disorders and Pediatric Acute-Onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome: A Scoping Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- Maternal infections during pregnancy and offspring cognitive outcome: A nationwide full-sibling cohort study.PLoS medicine · 2025Article
- Prenatal and early childhood infections requiring hospitalization and risk of neurodevelopmental disorders in offspring: a population-based birth cohort study in Taiwan.Molecular psychiatry · 2025Article
- Neurodevelopmental disorders in children born to mothers involved in maternal motor vehicle crashes.Pediatric research · 2025Article
- The Serbian version of the Pandemic-Related Pregnancy Stress Scale (PREPS-SRB)-A validation study.PloS one · 2025Article
- Comprehensive evaluation of the child with global developmental delays or intellectual disability.Clinical and experimental pediatrics · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 7 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThere is arguing evidence regarding the association between maternal infections during pregnancy and the risk of intellectual disability (ID) in children. This systematic review and meta-analysis are essential to determine and address inconsistent findings between maternal infections during pregnancy and the risk of ID in children.
methodsThe MOOSE and PRISMA guidelines were followed to perform and report on this study. The Medline/PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and Scopus databases were searched from inception up to March 15, 2023, to identify potentially eligible studies. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied, as well as the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale was used to assess the methodological quality of studies included. The included studies were divided into two types based on the participants: (1) ID-based studies, which involved children with ID as cases and healthy children as controls and evaluated maternal infection in these participants; (2) infection-based studies, which assessed the prevalence or incidence of ID in the follow-up of children with or without exposure to maternal infection. We used Random-effects models (REM) to estimate the overall pooled odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). The between-studies heterogeneity was assessed with the χ2-based Q-test and I2 statistic. Subgroup and sensitivity analyses were applied to explore the source of heterogeneity and results consistency.
resultsA total of eight studies including 1,375,662 participants (60,479 cases and 1,315,183 controls) met the eligibility criteria. The REM found that maternal infection significantly increased the risk of ID in children (OR, 1.33; 95% CI, 1.21-1.46; I2 = 64.6). Subgroup analysis showed a significant association for both infection-based (OR, 1.27; 95%CI, 1.15-1.40; I2 = 51.2) and ID-based (OR, 1.44; 95%CI, 1.19-1.74; I2 = 77.1) studies. Furthermore, subgroup analysis based on diagnostic criteria revealed a significant association when maternal infection or ID were diagnosed using ICD codes (OR, 1.33; 95% CI, 1.20-1.48; I2 = 75.8).
conclusionOur study suggests that maternal infection during pregnancy could be associated with an increased risk of ID in children. This finding is consistent across different types of studies and diagnostic criteria. However, due to the heterogeneity and limitations of the included studies, we recommend further longitudinal studies to confirm the causal relationship and the underlying mechanisms.
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