Communication in children born very preterm: a prospective cohort study

Abstract

Aim To compare language, speech, and voice of children born preterm and at term, and determine relevant predictors of outcome. Method Three hundred infants (150 males, 150 females; 149 born at <30wks’ gestation, 151 term‐born) were prospectively recruited at birth from the Royal Women's Hospital. We administered the Preschool Language Scales, Fifth Edition, Diagnostic Evaluation of Articulation and Phonology, Grade Roughness Breathiness Asthenia Strain Scale, and Pediatric Voice Handicap Index at 3 years, and compared groups. We examined hypothesized predictors in children born preterm: gestational age at birth, birthweight, sex, chronic lung disease, high social risk, multilingualism, neurodevelopmental diagnosis, and oromotor feeding. Results Children born preterm had poorer language than children born at term (coefficient −5.43). Speech and voice were similar between groups (coefficients −0.70 to 1.63). Chronic lung disease predicted voice (coefficient 6.05); male sex (coefficients 4.54–6.18), high social risk (coefficient −6.02 to −9.30), and neurodevelopmental diagnosis (coefficients −16.42 to −20.61) predicted language. Interpretation Children born before 30 weeks’ gestation had poorer language than children born at term. Children born preterm with neurodevelopmental disabilities or high social risk experience poorer language outcomes, and would benefit from enrichment of their language environment. What this paper adds Speech and voice outcomes were similar between children born preterm and at term. Male sex, high social risk, and neurodevelopmental diagnosis predicted language outcomes.

Is children’s speech development changing? Preliminary evidence from Australian English-speaking 3-year-olds

“…This study compared the performance of the neurotypical control group reported in Sanchez et al (2020) with normative data for children of the same age (see Appendix 1), particularly the DEAP's normative data as both samples used the same materials, procedure and scoring. Sanchez et al (2020) reported data collected in 2015 from 99 three-year-olds (48% girls) recruited as newborn infants at hospitals in Melbourne from late 2011 to early 2013. They were a neurotypical control group for a study investigating speech and language outcomes.…”

“…The literature reviewed led to the following research question: Do assessment data collected in 2015 (reported in Sanchez et al, 2020) from three-year-old neurotypical children using the DEAP (Dodd et al, 2002) reflect widely accepted normative data for consonant acquisition and phonological patterns? It was hypothesised that there would be no differences in speech development norms over time.…”

“…This study uses data from a neurotypical control group in a recent report ( cohort, Sanchez et al, 2020 to evaluate currently used normative data. Sanchez et al (2020) compared the language, speech, and voice of three-year old children born preterm and at term using standardized assessments. The findings indicated that children born before 30 weeks' gestation had poorer language than the control group of children born at term, but there was no difference on measures of speech and voice.…”

“…The Sanchez et al (2020) control group provides an opportunity to examine whether speech data collected in 2015 aligns with normative research on phonological development.…”

Conversational Language in 3-Year-Old Children Born Very Preterm and at Term

“…Zimmerman, Steiner, & Pond, 2011) and approximately 20 min of unstructured play with one of five trained pediatric speech-language pathologists. The primary outcomes from the PLS-5 assessment for the entire cohort are reported in a separate paper (Sanchez et al, 2019). Parents were also asked whether their child had received a diagnosis of a neurodevelopmental disorder, such as autism spectrum disorder or cerebral palsy, and whether their child understood or spoke more than one language.…”