Abstract

Background and objective: Much epidemiological evidence has shown that the offspring born to preeclamptic women (hypertension in pregnancy) have a high risk for developing cardiovascular diseases and neurocognitive disorders, including language disorders later in life. Nevertheless, the analysis of language disorders in children born to preeclamptic women is limited. Therefore, the present study aims to investigate oral language in children of mothers who had preeclampsia. Method: This is a cross-sectional study, previously approved by the Scientific Ethics Committee of the Hospital Clínico Herminda Martin of Chillán, Chile. The analysis was performed on a third (n = 17) of a target universe of 56 children. These were sub-divided into groups of pre-school children born to normal pregnancies (n = 4) and preeclamptic women (n = 3); and children of school age born to normal (n = 5) and preeclamptic women (n = 5). We evaluated in general (screening) the different levels of language and narrative discourse using an adaptation of the tests available in the literature. Results: No statistically significant differences between children of pre-school or school age from both groups of pregnancies were found in the total score of the language evaluation test. However, in the more detailed analysis of either the expressive or the comprehensive aspect, specific differences were detected that resulted in a low percentage of children born to mothers with pre-eclampsia in the pre-school stage who failed to understand or express part of the delivered message (end of a tale) compared to the respective controls. Conclusions: The results indicate that children born to mothers with preeclampsia may have decreased understanding and expression of narrative discourse at preschool age. We suggest that preeclampsia might cause diminished oral verbal ability in offspring.