Del Hoyo Soriano, LauraRosser, Tracie CHamilton, Debra RHarvey, Danielle JAbbeduto, LeonardSherman, Stephanie L
Summary
The Apgar score is an assessment done by a health care provider 1-5 minutes after birth that describes how a baby handled the birthing process and how well they are doing outside of the mother’s body. In this study, researchers analyzed the Apgar scores of 168 people with Down syndrome (DS) alongside their cognitive test scores from between the ages of 6-25. Their findings suggest a need for more research into how birthing events reflected in the Apgar score affect cognitive functioning in individuals with DS.
Abstract
This study examined the contribution of the Apgar score at 1 and 5 min after birth to later cognitive functioning in 168 individuals with Down syndrome who were between 6 and 25 years of age at time of cognitive testing. Our results showed that a lower Apgar score at 1 min was related to a worse performance in later cognitive measures of receptive vocabulary, verbal comprehension and production, visual memory and working memory. Results also showed that a lower Apgar score at 5 min was only related to worse later outcomes of verbal comprehension and production and auditory working memory. Our findings suggest a need for future studies investigating how specific perinatal events reflected in the Apgar score are linked to later cognitive functioning in individuals with Down syndrome.