Journal article
Language skills of school-aged children prenatally exposed to antiepileptic drugs
C Nadebaum, VA Anderson, F Vajda, DC Reutens, S Barton, AG Wood
Neurology | Published : 2011
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: Fetal exposure to some antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) carries increased risk of major birth defects, and may be associated with reduced intellectual abilities. The impact on language remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the impact of fetal AED exposure on language skills. METHODS: Women with epilepsy and their children were recruited to this observational study through the Australian Pregnancy Register for Women with Epilepsy and Allied Disorders. Language skills of 102 AED-exposed children were assessed using the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals, fourth edition (CELF-4). Assessments were conducted blind to drug. Maternal epilepsy, pregnancy, and medical histo..
View full abstractGrants
Awarded by Australian Research Council
Funding Acknowledgements
Supported by the Australian Research Council (LP0669648 to A.W., V.A., D.R., F.V.), Apex Foundation (to A.W., V.A., D.R., F.V.), and Pearson Plc (to A.W.).C. Nadebaum was supported by an Australian Postgraduate Award PhD scholarship. Dr. Anderson receives publishing royalties for Test of Everyday Attention for Children (Pearson, 1999) and receives research support from the Multiple Sclerosis Research Association, Foundations for Children, Pratt Foundation, and Victorian Neurotrauma Institute. Dr. Vajda is Director of the Australian Pregnancy Register, which receives financial support from its operations from the pharmaceutical industry, including Sanofi-Aventis, UCB, Janssen, Novartis, and Pfizer Inc., as well as past support from GlaxoSmithKline. The register also gratefully acknowledges the support of the Epilepsy Society of Australia, The Victorian Epilepsy Foundation, and Epilepsy Australia. Dr. Reutens has served on the speakers' bureau for and received speaker honoraria from UCB and has received research grant funding from UCB, Sanofi-Aventis, Janssen, Novartis, and the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia. S. Barton was supported by an Australian Postgraduate Award PhD scholarship. Dr. Wood was supported by a fellowship from Australian Rotary Health and serves on the Executive and Scientific Advisory Board of the Australian Pregnancy Register.