Educational Outcomes in School-Aged Children With a History of Simple and Complex Gastroschisis are Poor Compared to Controls.

BACKGROUND

Research on long-term cognitive outcomes of children with gastroschisis is limited and inconsistent. This study aimed to compare the educational outcomes of children with gastroschisis to age-matched controls using a population-based repository of educational data.

METHODS

We performed a retrospective study of all children born with gastroschisis between 1991 and 2022. We compared the educational outcomes of children with simple and complex gastroschisis to date-of-birth matched controls using the: Early Development Instrument (EDI) and Grades 3, 7, and 8 assessments. We used odds ratio (OR) to compare the likelihood of children with gastroschisis failing an assessment compared to controls. We did subgroup analyses for simple and complex gastroschisis cases.

RESULTS

A total of 208 gastroschisis cases and 2075 controls were included. There were 136 children with simple gastroschisis and 72 children with complex gastroschisis. Children with gastroschisis were more likely to fail a middle school assessment than controls (OR = 2.93, 95%CI = 1.73, 5.09). Even children with simple gastroschisis were more likely to fail a middle school assessment (OR = 2.66, 95%CI = 1.42, 5.13). Moreover, children with severe gastroschisis were at even greater odds of failing a middle school assessment than controls (OR = 4.57, 95%CI = 1.71, 13.60).

CONCLUSION

The academic performance of children born with gastroschisis, both simple and complex, is inferior to age-matched controls in middle school. Caregivers should be aware of the ongoing challenges that children born with gastroschisis face and seek early support.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Prognostic, level III.