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BACKGROUND Long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFA) is an essential fatty acid that serves to protect cellular structures and provide energy, particularly for the fetal growth and development. As maternal supplementations of omega-3 LCPUFA may affect the rate of intelligence in early childhood development. OBJECTIVE The current systematic review is intended to synthesize available evidence on the impact of omega-3 LCPUFA supplementation during pregnancy towards intelligence in early childhood development. METHODS We will only include randomized controlled trials on pregnant women supplemented with omega-3 LCPUFA interventions and the outcome measured is the children’s intelligence. Based on the World Health Organization's definition of early childhood, we will include children who are eight years old or younger. Children's intelligence can be indicated using several tools measuring their intelligence index, such as cognition, attention, motor, language, behaviour, vision or neurodevelopment. Irrelevant and unavailable articles will be excluded. A systematic search will be conducted in three electronic databases, namely PubMed, Scopus and Cochrane using relevant and synonymous terms. Study screening and selection will be conducted by the authors based on eligibility criteria. Upon encountering conflicting decisions, a discussion will be held to reach a consensus. The screening and selection process will be recorded using a PRISMA flowchart. The included studies will be subjected to bias and quality assessment in accordance with the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) Risk of Bias assessment inventory for randomized controlled trials. RESULTS An initial search was conducted on November 1st, 2023, which returned 1998 articles for screening. The extracted data will be classified into groups and subgroups according to the indicator of intelligence measured in the study. Next, the extracted data will be summarised using tables of evidence. Whenever possible, meta-analysis of homogeneous groups of articles will be conducted using statistical software such as SPSS and STATA. Studies with significant heterogeneity will be discussed narratively. The systematic review is estimated to be published at the year end of 2024. CONCLUSIONS This study will systematically pool the evidence on the potential use of omega-3 LCPUFA supplementation to improve children’s intelligence status. This review is also important in addressing any existing knowledge gaps on this topic. Finally, a deeper understanding on the association between consumption of omega-3 LCPUFA supplementation during pregnancy and children’s intelligence will aid policymakers, healthcare practitioners and mothers with more informed evidence-based decisions. CLINICALTRIAL PROSPERO CRD42023463910
Lim et al. (Fri,) studied this question.