Is there an association between labor induction and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder among children?

BACKGROUND: There is evidence of destructive effects of oxytocin use during labor on neurodevelopment. PURPOSE: This meta-analysis pooled all observational studies to determine the association between labor induction and the risk of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) among children. METHODS: All observational studies (case-control and cohort) were reviewed until September 2020 after searches of the PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science databases, the gray literature, and conference proceedings. The pooled odds ratios (ORs), relative ratios (RRs), and 95% confidence intervals (CI (swere calculated as random effect estimates of association among studies. RESULTS: All observational studies were reviewed, including 4 cohort studies including 2,885,743 participants and 3 case-control studies including 51,135 participants (10,961 with ADHD and 40,174 in control groups) with a sample size of 2,936,878 participants. The pooled estimates of OR and RR did not indicate a significant association between labor induction and ADHD among children (OR, 1.13; 95% CI, 0.90–1.35) and (RR, 1.10; 95% CI, 0.96–1.24). CONCLUSIONS: The findings showed that labor induction is not associated with an increased risk of ADHD among children. However, more studies are needed to investigate the relationship between labor induction and ADHD.