Umbilical Cord Blood pH Level, Apgar Score, and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Is perinatal hypoxia assessed by clinical and biochemical measures associated with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)?In this nationwide cohort study of 819 658 singleton newborns, with a gestational age of 35 weeks or more, the combination of an Apgar score of less than 7 and an umbilical cord blood pH level of less than 7.20 were associated with ADHD. When the Apgar score was normal, there was no association between pH level and ADHD; when the pH level was normal, there was no association between Apgar score and ADHD.These findings suggest that perinatal hypoxia was associated with an increased risk of ADHD only when both clinical and biochemical features were affected.

Corresponding Author: Mette Vestergård Pedersen, MD, Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Aarhus University Hospital, Palle Juul-Jensens Blvd, 99, 8200 Aarhus N, Denmark (mvp@clin.au.dk).

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