DHA supplementation in infants born preterm and the effect on attention at 18 months' corrected age: follow-up of a subset of the N3RO randomised controlled trial
- Resource Type
- Authors
- Erandi Hewawasam; Lisa G. Smithers; Jacqueline F Gould; Carmel T Collins; Andrew J McPhee; Maria Makrides; John C. Colombo; Lisa N Yelland; Beverly S. Muhlhausler
- Source
- The British journal of nutrition. 125(4)
- Subject
- Adult
Pediatrics
medicine.medical_specialty
Docosahexaenoic Acids
distractibility
Population
Medicine (miscellaneous)
Mothers
Enteral administration
Mean difference
law.invention
03 medical and health sciences
0302 clinical medicine
Corrected Age
Primary outcome
Child Development
Randomized controlled trial
law
030225 pediatrics
medicine
Humans
030212 general & internal medicine
preterm infants
education
education.field_of_study
Pregnancy
Nutrition and Dietetics
neurodevelopment
business.industry
Infant, Newborn
Infant
early childhood
medicine.disease
attention
DHA
In utero
Dietary Supplements
business
Bayley scales of infant development-III
Infant, Premature
Follow-Up Studies
- Language
- ISSN
- 1475-2662
Infants born preterm miss out on the peak period of in utero DHA accretion to the brain during the last trimester of pregnancy which is hypothesised to contribute to the increased prevalence of neurodevelopmental deficits in this population. This study aimed to determine whether DHA supplementation in infants born preterm improves attention at 18 months’ corrected age. This is a follow-up of a subset of infants who participated in the N3RO randomised controlled trial. Infants were randomised to receive an enteral emulsion of high-dose DHA (60 mg/kg per d) or no DHA (soya oil – control) from within the first days of birth until 36 weeks’ post-menstrual age. The assessment of attention involved three tasks requiring the child to maintain attention on toy/s in either the presence or absence of competition or a distractor. The primary outcome was the child’s latency of distractibility when attention was focused on a toy. The primary outcome was available for seventy-three of the 120 infants that were eligible to participate. There was no evidence of a difference between groups in the latency of distractibility (adjusted mean difference: 0·08 s, 95 % CI –0·81, 0·97; P = 0·86). Enteral DHA supplementation did not result in improved attention in infants born preterm at 18 months’ corrected age.