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Assessment and Evaluation of the High Risk Neonate: The NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale
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Academic, social, and behavioral outcomes at age 12 of infants born preterm

Suzy Barcelos Winchester1, Mary C Sullivan, Amy Kerivan Marks

  • 1Women & Infants Hospital, Providence, Rhode Island, USA. swinchester@wihri.org

Western Journal of Nursing Research
|October 28, 2009
PubMed

Insights

Preterm infants with neurological or small-for-gestational-age (SGA) morbidity showed lower academic skills. Medical morbidity in preterm infants unexpectedly correlated with higher academic competence, highlighting the need for tailored school support.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Health
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Educational Psychology

Background:

  • Perinatal morbidity significantly impacts child development.
  • Understanding long-term school outcomes for preterm infants is crucial.
  • Previous research has not fully differentiated effects based on specific morbidity types.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the school outcomes at age 12 for preterm infants with varying levels of perinatal morbidity.
  • To compare academic competence, social skills, and problem behaviors across different preterm groups and a full-term comparison group.
  • To examine the relationship between perinatal morbidity and school service utilization.

Main Methods:

  • Study included four preterm groups (healthy, medical morbidity, neurological morbidity, small-for-gestational-age [SGA]) and one full-term comparison group.
  • Teacher-reported data on academic competence, social skills, and problem behaviors were collected.
  • School records provided information on school type, classroom setting, and school service use.

Main Results:

  • Preterm groups demonstrated comparable social skills and problem behaviors to full-term peers.
  • Neurological morbidity and SGA groups exhibited the lowest academic competence.
  • Preterm infants with medical morbidity unexpectedly scored higher in academic competence than other preterm groups.
  • School service use increased with the severity of perinatal morbidity, particularly with multiple indicators.

Conclusions:

  • While social and behavioral outcomes are often similar, academic competence varies significantly among preterm infants based on morbidity type.
  • Medical morbidity may not negatively impact academic competence as much as neurological or SGA factors.
  • Increased perinatal morbidity necessitates greater school service utilization, especially when multiple health indicators are present.
  • Ongoing monitoring through early adolescence is vital for providing appropriate school support to preterm infants.

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