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Late preterm infants have worse 24-month neurodevelopmental outcomes than term infants

Melissa A Woythaler1, Marie C McCormick, Vincent C Smith

  • 1Department of Neonatology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. mwoythaler@partners.org

Pediatrics
|February 16, 2011
PubMed

Insights

Late preterm infants show poorer neurodevelopmental outcomes compared to term infants. These infants face increased odds of experiencing developmental delays in mental and physical aspects.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatrics
  • Neurodevelopmental Science
  • Public Health

Background:

  • Late preterm infants (34-37 weeks' gestation) are often mistakenly considered at similar risk as term infants.
  • This perception overlooks potential neurodevelopmental disparities.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate and compare the neurodevelopmental outcomes between late preterm infants and full-term infants.
  • To identify specific developmental delays in these infant populations.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized data from 6300 term and 1200 late preterm infants from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort.
  • Employed general estimating equations to analyze weighted odds of developmental delay at 24 months.
  • Assessed mental index scores (MDI) and psychomotor index scores (PDI) < 70.

Main Results:

  • Late preterm infants exhibited significantly lower MDI (85 vs 89) and PDI (88 vs 92) compared to term infants.
  • A higher percentage of late preterm infants had MDI < 70 (21% vs 16%).
  • After controlling for covariates, late preterm infants had 1.52 times higher odds of mental delay and 1.56 times higher odds of physical delay.

Conclusions:

  • Late preterm infants demonstrate poorer neurodevelopmental outcomes than their term counterparts.
  • There is a statistically significant increased risk for both mental and physical developmental delays in late preterm infants.
  • These findings highlight the need for targeted developmental monitoring in late preterm populations.
Abstract

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