Babies who experience opioid withdrawal after being exposed to the drugs in utero are more likely to encounter educational difficulties in the future, according to a study from the CDC presented during the agency's Epidemic Intelligence Service Conference in Atlanta Monday.
Neonatal abstinence syndrome occurs when mothers use opioids while pregnant. Infants born with this condition experience symptoms like sweating, vomiting and seizures. While neurobehavioral issues related to NAS have been documented, educational outcomes of children born with this condition have not been closely examined.
For the study, CDC researchers linked Tennessee Medicaid data on 1,815 children born with NAS in the state from 2008 to 2011 to data compiled in the state's department of education database. Researchers then conducted a comparison analysis with 5,441 children born in the state with no history of the condition.
The analysis revealed children born with NAS were more likely to be referred for disability evaluation, meet the criteria for disability, experience delayed development, and display speech and language impairment than children born without the condition.
"In this novel analysis linking health and education datasets, children with NAS were significantly more likely to have certain disabilities than children without NAS," concluded the study's authors. "Thus, efforts to reduce intrauterine opioid exposure and NAS might also reduce the risk of developmental disabilities in these children."
In the last 15 years, the number of babies born with NAS has quadrupled, according to the CDC.
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