Health and functioning of adolescents conceived by assisted reproductive technology

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the general health, mental health, and cognitive ability of assisted reproductive technology (ART)-conceived adolescents.

Design: A nested case-control study within a historic cohort.

Setting: Not applicable.

Patient(s): A total of 253 ART-conceived adolescents born between 1982 and 1993 and 253 matched references according to birth year, gender, and the high-school they attended.

Intervention(s): None.

Main outcome measure(s): Medical and psychiatric diagnoses, and cognitive ability recorded at the military preinduction screening (ages 16-17 years) and doctor's appointments throughout the military service.

Result(s): No differences were detected in general and mental health of ART adolescents or cognitive ability, compared with the reference group. Similar results were obtained after stratification for gender and singleton births. The ART adolescents had fewer cases of discharge from military service due to health reasons (4% vs. 8.3%). Follow-up during the military service revealed that male ART adolescents had significantly more doctor's appointments compared with the reference group (23.80 ± 15.59 vs. 19.95 ± 13.79).

Conclusion(s): Our preliminary results provide reassurance that in the long-run health and functioning of ART-conceived adolescents is not compromised. Further studies with larger cohorts are needed to confirm these results.

Keywords: Assisted reproduction technology (ART); adolescents; follow-up; health.