[Language difficulties in preschool children with a history of extreme prematurity]

Preterm infants are prone to present language development difficulties. There is evidence that verbal deficits are common and adversely affect social interaction as well as school learning. In Chile, these skills are not evaluated by the premature follow-up program; therefore, the extent of this problem is unknown. The objective of this study is to describe the language difficulties of a group of preschoolers with a history of extreme prematurity.

Thirty children aged 4 and 5 years old, with a history of extreme prematurity, but without severe neurological damage or hearing loss were evaluated through language tests at the Premature Follow-up Polyclinic of the Eastern Cordillera Health Reference Center.

73.3% of the children assessed had deficits in some area of the language. Of these, 77.3% had comprehensive and expressive difficulties. In this group, 86.4% showed significant difficulties in narrative skills.

A high preterm infant proportion presents language difficulties in preschool, resulting in the need of including specific intervention programs that promote better language development for this population.