Early cognitive and motor development among infants born to women infected with human immunodeficiency virus. Women and Infants Transmission Study Group.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the frequency, timing, and factors associated with abnormal cognitive and motor development during the first 30 months of life in infants born to women infected with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1).


METHODS
Serial neurodevelopmental assessment was performed with 595 infants born to women infected with HIV-1 in a multicenter, prospective, natural history cohort study. Survival analysis methods were used to evaluate 6 outcome events related to abnormal cognitive and motor growth (time to confirmed drop of 1 SD, time to first score <69, and time to confirmed drop of 2 SD) in Bayley Scales of Infant Development Mental Developmental Index (MDI) and Psychomotor Developmental Index (PDI) scores among infected (n = 114) and uninfected (n = 481) infants. Proportional hazards modeling was used to evaluate the effects of HIV infection status, prematurity, prenatal exposure to illicit drugs, maternal educational attainment, and primary language.


RESULTS
HIV-1 infection was significantly associated with increased risk for all outcome events related to abnormal mental and motor growth. Differences between infected and uninfected infants were apparent by 4 months of age. Prematurity was associated with increased risk for MDI <69 and PDI <69. Maternal education of <9 completed years was associated with increased risk for MDI <69. Neither prenatal exposure to illicit drugs nor primary language other than English was associated with abnormal development.


CONCLUSIONS
A significant proportion of infants with HIV-1 infection show early and marked cognitive and motor delays or declines that may be important early indicators of HIV disease progression. These abnormalities are independent of other risk factors for developmental delay.
Department of Pediatrics, Division of Infectious Disease, Boston Medical Center, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts 02118-2393, USA. cynthia.chase@bmc.org
C
C
Chase
J
J
Ware
J
J
Hittelman
I
I
Blasini
R
R
Smith
A
A
Llorente
E
E
Anisfeld
C
C
Diaz
M G
MG
Fowler
J
J
Moye
L I
LI
Kaligh
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D015897:Comorbidity; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000453:epidemiology*; D018450:Disease Progression; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000635:transmission*; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007235:Infant, Premature, Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D018445:Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011647:Puerto Rico / Q000453:epidemiology; D018570:Risk Assessment; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology