The effect of iodine supplementation in pregnancy on early childhood neurodevelopment and clinical outcomes: results of an aborted randomised placebo-controlled trial

Study answer

What this study found

Iodine supplementation during pregnancy did not improve early childhood neurodevelopment and did not change the other clinical outcomes assessed. At 18 months, Bayley-III scores were similar for cognitive performance (99.4 vs 101.7; MD -2.3, 95% CI -7.8 to 3.2; P = 0.42), language (97.2 vs 97.9; MD -0.7, 95% CI -7.0 to 5.6; P = 0.83), and motor function (93.9 vs 92.4; MD 1.4, 95% CI -4.0 to 6.9; P = 0.61). Although iodine status improved in the active group, there were no between-group differences in breast milk iodine concentration, cord thyroid measures, birth weight, birth length, head…

Study & population

Aborted randomised placebo-controlled trial in pregnant women with singleton pregnancies enrolled before 20 weeks' gestation in Australia and New Zealand.

Intervention

Pregnant participants received 150 μg iodine as potassium iodide, taken orally as one tablet daily from randomisation until the end of pregnancy, compared with placebo.

Key limitation

The trial was small and aborted early, leaving it underpowered for clinical and neurodevelopmental outcomes.

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Original abstract