Background: Small for gestational age (SGA) and developmental coordination disorder (DCD) are receiving increasing attention in pediatric development. Understanding the risk of DCD, particularly in relation to SGA, would support children's health and development. However, the relationship between SGA and DCD remains unveiled beyond single-cohort studies.
Objectives: This study aimed to integrate findings on DCD from different cohorts within the nationwide prospective Japanese Birth Cohort Consortium (JBiCC).
Study design and subjects: DCD was assessed in children aged 4 to 7 years from three birth cohorts participating in the JBiCC: the Hokkaido Study on Environment and Children's Health (Hokkaido Study), the Hamamatsu Birth Cohort for Mothers and Children (HBC Study), and the Tohoku Medical Megabank Project Birth and Three-Generation Cohort Study (TMM BirThree Cohort Study).
Outcome measures: DCD was assessed using either the Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire Japanese Version (DCDQ-J) or the Ages and Stages Questionnaires Third Edition (ASQ-3). Logistic regression was used to assess the association between SGA and DCD in each cohort. Second, meta-analysis of the association between SGA and DCD defined by DCDQ-J, and individual patient data (IPD) meta-analysis of the association between SGA and DCDQ-J scores were conducted with two cohorts.
Results and conclusions: The analysis included 14,233 children in three cohorts. The individual cohort analyses did not explore statistical significance, except for the TMM BirThree Cohort Study. Meta-synthesis of the Hokkaido and HBC studies showed a β-coefficient of -2.63, 95 % CI [-5.22, -0.03]. IPD analysis of linear regression showed a β-coefficient of -2.76, 95 % CI [-5.38, -0.15]. Our results suggest that SGA may be a potential risk factor for DCD.
Keywords: Birth cohort; Developmental coordination disorder; Small for gestational age.
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