Table 1.
Characteristics of mothers and children in the control and DHA-supplemented groups
| Newborn subset for 450K BeadChip (n = 369) | All newborns (n = 991) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DHA group (n = 190) | Control group (n = 179) | DHA group (n = 517) | Control group (n = 474) | |
| Recruitment hospital | ||||
| Flinders Medical Centre and private hospitals, no. (%) | 59 (31.1) | 64 (35.8) | 199 (38.5) | 188 (39.7) |
| Women’s and Children’s Hospital, no. (%) | 131 (68.9) | 115 (64.2) | 318 (61.5) | 286 (60.3) |
| Primiparous, no. (%) | 68 (35.8) | 60 (33.5) | 212 (41.0) | 192 (40.5) |
| Mother’s age at trial entry, mean (SD), years | 30.2 (5.9) | 30.2 (5.5) | 29.8 (5.6) | 29.7 (5.5) |
| Mother smoking at trial entry, no. (%) | 19 (10.0) | 15 (8.4) | 60 (11.6) | 52 (11.0) |
| Duration of gestation, median (IQR), weeks | 39.9 (38.6–40.7) | 39.7 (39–40.5) | 39.7 (38.7–40.7) | 39.6 (38.9–40.4) |
| Birth weight, median (IQR), g | 3542 (3160–3859) | 3510 (3260–3832) | 3500 (3160–3820) | 3510 (3190–3798) |
| Child male sex, no. (%) | 92 (48.4) | 93 (52.0) | 260 (50.3) | 242 (51.1) |
| DHA in cord blood, mean (SD), % of total fatty acids | 7.9 (1.8)* | 6.4 (1.5) | 7.8 (1.8)* | 6.3 (1.5) |
Abbreviations: DHA docosahexaoneic acid, IQR interquartile range
*Difference between the DHA and control group P < 0.001