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Cognitive and educational deficits in children born extremely preterm

Peter J Anderson1, Lex W Doyle

  • 1Department of Psychology, The University of Melbourne, The Royal Women's Hospital, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. peterja@unimelb.edu.au

Seminars in Perinatology
|February 6, 2008
PubMed

Insights

Extremely preterm (EP) children face significant neurodevelopmental challenges, including cognitive and behavioral issues. However, many EP infants achieve better outcomes, influenced by genetic, perinatal, and social factors.

Area of Science:

  • Neonatal research
  • Developmental pediatrics
  • Neuroscience

Background:

  • Children born very preterm have increased neurobehavioral impairment risks.
  • Limited research exists on outcomes for extremely preterm (EP) infants (<26 weeks gestation or <750g birth weight).

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the literature on the developmental, cognitive, educational, and behavioral outcomes of EP children.
  • To identify factors influencing the variability in outcomes for EP children.

Main Methods:

  • Literature review of studies on extremely preterm infants.
  • Analysis of outcomes including early development, intellectual functioning, cognitive skills, educational attainment, and emotional/behavioral functioning.

Main Results:

  • A significant proportion of EP children experience major developmental delays, cognitive impairments, learning disabilities, and behavioral problems.
  • A considerable number of EP children, however, do not exhibit major impairments, indicating variable outcomes.

Conclusions:

  • EP children and their families face substantial challenges.
  • Variability in EP child outcomes is associated with genetic (e.g., gender), perinatal (e.g., brain injury, bronchopulmonary dysplasia), and social-environmental (e.g., social risk, parenting) factors.

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