Patterns of Neuropsychological Function in a Low‐birthweight Populati0n

Abstract

SUMMARY An investigative analysis was carried out of the neuromotor and cognitive findings in a population based study of low‐birthweight infants (< 17509) at 4 1/2 years of age to try to improve the understandïng of the neuropathological basis of their deficit,. Cluster analysis identified groups of children whose performance in the cognitive subscales of the British Ability Scales followed similar patterns and also differentiated between children in neuromotor competence. Cluster membership correlated highly with language attainment, ability to copy shapes behaviour as reported by parents, and parents, and examiners' perception of attention span. Children in poorer‐performing clusters were more likely to be born to mothers who had had a previous perinatal death, and were also more likely to have experienced septicaemia during the neonatal period. These findings are discussed in the light of evidence from the neuropathological and physiological literature. RÉSUMÉ Allure des fonctions neuropsychologies dons une population d'enfants a faible poids de naissance Une analyse exploratrice sur les données neuromotrices et cognitives à I'àge de quatre ans et demi d'entants de faible poids de naissance (< 1750g), a été entreprise pour essayer d'améliorer la compréhension des bases neuropathologiques de leurs déficiences. Une analyse de groupe a identifyé des groupes d'enfants dont les performances aux sous‐échelles cognitives des British Ability Scales présentaient des allures comparables, et a différenciéégalement les enfants sur le plan des compérences neuromotrices. L'appartenance à un groupe était haucement corrélée avec les performances en langage, la capacityéà copier des forms, le comportement rapporté par les parents, et la perception du temps d'attention, faite par les parents ou des examinateurs. Les enfants des groupes les moins performants avaient plus de chance d'être nés de méres ayant eu une expérience antérieure de décès périnatal, et plus de chance d'avoir présenté une septicémie durant la période néonatale. Ces données sont discutées à la lumière des évidences de la littéirature de neuropathology et physiologie. ZUSAMMENFASSUNG Neuropsychologische Funktionmuster bei Kindern mit niedrigem Geburtsgewicht Es wurden die Befunde neuromotorischer und kognitiver Untersuchungen von 4 1/2‐jährigen Kindern mit niedrigem Geburtsgewicht (<1750g) analysiert, um die neuropathologischen Grundlagen für ihre Störungen besser zu verstehen. Durch Cluster Analyse wurden Gruppen von Kindern herausgefunden, deren Lösungen in den Untergruppen der kognitiven Tests der British Ability Scales ein ähnliches Muster aufwiesen, außerdem wurden die Kinder im neuromotorischen Bereich unterschieden. Es fand sich eine starke Korrelation von Cluster‐Zugehorigkeit und Sprachkenntnis, Fähigkeiten, Formen nachzuzeichnen, Verhalten nach Darstellung der Eltern und von Eltern und Untersuchern festgestellte Aufmerksamkeitsspanne. Kinder mit schlechteren Testergebnissen hatten mit größerer Wahrscheinlichkeit Mütter, die zuvor eine Totgeburt hatt...

Cognitive status, language attainment, and prereading skills of 6‐year‐old very preterm children and their peers: the Bavarian Longitudinal Study

“…Finally, the follow-up period extended into the late preschool years, allowing for more certain judgments of long-term problems than assessments in infancy (Hindley and Owen 1979, McCall 1981, Escobar et al 1991, Colombo 1993, McCall and Carriger 1993. The study thus meets and exceeds demands for methodologically sound follow-up studies (Mutch et al 1989, Escobar et al 1991, Ornstein et al 1991, Saigal 1991, Saigal et al 1991, Harrison 1993, Lukeman and Melvin 1993, Siegel 1994, Wolke 1998a. Our findings cannot be explained by lack of reliability of assessments or measures.…”

“…It has been speculated that specific deficits may suggest either damage to, or inhibition of, normal development in specific areas of the brain (Mutch et al 1993). However, only a few previous studies have evaluated whether these developmental or learning problems represent specific developmental deficits or could be accounted for by general IQ deficits in very-low-birthweight children (Lindgren et al 1986, Breslau et al 1988, Hunt et al 1988, Klein et al 1989, Saigal 1991, Saigal et al 1991.…”

Assessment of Developmental Coordination Disorder in Children Born With Extremely Low Birth Weights

“…Difficulties in motor abilities have been consistently reported in preterm children (Davis, Ford, Anderson, & Doyle, 2007;de Kleine et al, 2003;Dewey, Crawford, Creighton, & Sauve, 1999;Foulder-Hughes & Cooke, 2003;Hack et al, 2005;Jongmans, Mercuri, Dubowitz, & Henderson, 1998;Taylor, Minich, Klein, & Hack, 2004;Wocadlo & Rieger, 2008) with the prevalence of motor disturbances ranging from 10-72% (Botting, Powls, Cooke, & Marlow, 1998;Davis et al, 2007;de Kleine et al, 2003;Erickson, Allert, Carlberg, & Katz-Salamon, 2003;Hack et al, 2005;Hall, McLeod, Counsell, Thomson, & Mutch, 1995;Jongmans, Mercuri, de Vries, Dubowitz, & Henderson, 1997;Torrioli et al, 2000;Wocadlo & Rieger, 2008). However, few studies have attempted to identify neonatal risk factors that predict degree of motor impairment (Keller, Ayub, Saigal, & Bar-Or, 1998;Mutch, Leyland, & McGee, 1993;Taylor, Klein, Drotar, Schluchter, & Hack, 2006).…”

Children born weighing less than 1701 g: visual and cognitive outcomes at 11-14 years

“…S urvivors of preterm birth are at increased risk of cognitive impairment [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] and poor school performance. 2 3 7 9 10 In particular, specific difficulties in reading, spelling, number skills and handwriting have been described.…”