Early cognitive and motor development among infants born to women infectedwith human immunodeficiency virus

Objective. To examine the frequency, timing, and factors associated with ab normal cognitive and motor development during the first 30 months of life i n infants born to women infected with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 ( HIV-1). Methods. Serial neurodevelopmental assessment was performed with 595 infant s born to women infected with HIV-1 in a multicenter, prospective, natural history cohort study. Survival analysis methods were used to evaluate 6 out come events related to abnormal cognitive and motor growth (time to confirm ed drop of 1 SD, time to first score <69, and time to confirmed drop of 2 S D) in Bayley Scales of Infant Development Mental Developmental Index (MDI) and Psychomotor Developmental Index (PDI) scores among infected (n = 114) a nd uninfected (n = 481) infants. Proportional hazards modeling was used to evaluate the effects of HIV infection status, prematurity, prenatal exposur e to illicit drugs, maternal educational attainment, and primary language. Results. HIV-1 infection was significantly associated with increased risk f or all outcome events related to abnormal mental and motor growth. Differen ces between infected and uninfected infants were apparent by 4 months of ag e. Prematurity was associated with increased risk for MDI <69 and PDI <69. Maternal education of <9 completed years was associated with increased risk for MDI <69. Neither prenatal exposure to illicit drugs nor primary langua ge other than English was associated with abnormal development. Conclusion. A significant proportion of infants with HIV-1 infection show e arly and marked cognitive and motor delays or declines that may be importan t early indicators of HIV disease progression. These abnormalities are inde pendent of other risk factors for developmental delay.