Developmental outcome in children exposed to chloride-deficient formula.

The developmental outcome of 2- and 4-year-old children who had been exposed as infants to chloride-deficient formula was studied. A negative dose-response relationship was demonstrated between use of the formula without additional nutritional supplementation and cognitive outcome as measured by the Bayley Scales of Infant Development (Pearson r = -.55, P = .01) at 2 years of age. A similar negative relationship was demonstrated between this exclusive use of the defective formula and perceptual (Pearson r = -.51, P less than .05), motor (Pearson r = -.52, P less than .05), and fine motor (Pearson r = -.75, P less than .002) ability as measured by the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities at 4 years of age. When other know predictors of developmental outcome were taken into account by means of multiple linear regression analyses, exclusive formula use emerged as an important predictor of the children's cognitive functioning at 2 years (model R2 = .59, P less than .005) and of quantitative (model R2 = .58, P less than .006), perceptual (model R2 = .63, P less than .009), and fine motor ability (model R2 = .74, P less than .003) at 4 years of age. These data raise concern about the developmental outcome of the children exposed to chloride-deficient formula.