Learning disability in 10- to 16-year-old adolescents with very low birth weight in Japan

Area of Science:

• Developmental Psychology
• Neonatal Medicine
• Pediatric Neurology

Background:

• Increasing incidence of very low birth weight (VLBW) infants in Japan.
• Limited understanding of long-term behavioral and mental health outcomes for VLBW survivors.
• Need to investigate the impact of VLBW and fetal growth restriction on neurodevelopment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the prevalence of learning disabilities (LD) and depression in adolescents born with VLBW.
• To compare neurodevelopmental outcomes between VLBW infants (small-for-gestational-age [SGA] and appropriate-for-gestational-age [AGA]) and term-born controls.
• To identify risk factors associated with VLBW and fetal growth restriction impacting adolescent development.

Main Methods:

• Longitudinal study involving 57 VLBW adolescents (13.4 ± 1.9 years) and 29 term-born controls.
• Utilized the Pupil Rating Scale Revised (PRS) for LD screening and the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) for depression assessment.
• Compared PRS and CDI scores between VLBW subgroups (SGA/VLBW, AGA/VLBW) and the control group.

Main Results:

• VLBW group exhibited significantly lower PRS scores compared to controls (p < 0.001).
• Suspected LD identified in 10.7% of VLBW subjects versus 0% in controls (p = 0.074).
• Higher frequency of suspected LD, particularly in non-verbal domains, observed in SGA/VLBW infants (18.2%) than AGA/VLBW infants (5.9%). No significant differences in CDI scores were found.

Conclusions:

• VLBW, particularly when associated with fetal growth restriction (SGA), is a significant risk factor for LD in adolescents.
• Neurodevelopmental screening is crucial for VLBW survivors, especially those born SGA.
• Findings underscore the importance of monitoring and intervention for VLBW individuals to address potential learning challenges.