Preterm Cognitive Function Into Adulthood

Abstract

, Dieter Wolke, PhD, Dr rer nat hc a,d abstract BACKGROUND: Very preterm (VP; gestational age ,32 weeks) and very low birth weight (VLBW; ,1500 g) births are related to impaired cognitive function across the life span. It is not known how stable cognitive functions are from childhood to adulthood for VP/VLBW compared with term-born individuals and how early adult cognitive function can be predicted.

Health-Related Quality of Life Into Adulthood After Very Preterm Birth

“…We found that VP/VLBW HRQL was more stable in the transition to adulthood than for controls. Similar higher stability over time has been reported for objective functioning such as IQ 30 indicating that life trajectories may be more fixed in preterm than term born populations.…”

Neonatal predictors of cognitive ability in adults born very preterm: a prospective cohort study

“…In comparison, VP/VLBW cognitive abilities measured as developmental quotient (DQ) in infancy may explain around 21% of VP/VLBW adult IQ. 12 Especially the presence of RDS, IVH, problems with mobility during the neonatal period, days of mechanical ventilation, less parenteral feeding, low/middle SES, and poor parent-infant relationship in the NICU and shortly after discharge were significant and unique predictors of adult cognitive abilities. These predictors can be routinely assessed in NICU's to identify VP/VLBW at risk of longterm adverse cognitive development.…”

“…Third, cognitive impairment was calculated as having an IQ score <2 SD of a recruited healthy term-born control group, born in the same hospitals and matched on variables such as sex and SES). 12 All analyses were repeated using logistic regression analyses to predict cognitive impairment including the construction of a receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) to analyze whether combining information on the most important predictors would distinguish between VP/VLBW individuals with and without cognitive impairment in adulthood. As these results were comparable to predicting continuous IQ scores, they are only reported in online Supplement 2.…”

“…The study design and dropout analyses have been described in detail elsewhere. 12 In short, the 260 participants had older mothers, better pregnancy health, and were more often socially advantaged than the 151 dropouts. 12 Ethical approval was obtained from University of Munich Children's Hospital, Landesärztekammer Bayern, and University Hospital Bonn (reference 159/09).…”

“…12 In short, the 260 participants had older mothers, better pregnancy health, and were more often socially advantaged than the 151 dropouts. 12 Ethical approval was obtained from University of Munich Children's Hospital, Landesärztekammer Bayern, and University Hospital Bonn (reference 159/09). Informed written consent was provided by parents within 48 hours of their child's birth and all participants gave fully informed written consent for the adulthood assessments.…”