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Muscular strength at 5 years of children with a birthweight under 1500 g
G W Ford1, W H Kitchen, L W Doyle
1Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
Insights
Very low birthweight (VLBW) children show significantly lower hand-grip strength compared to normal birthweight (NBW) children at age five. This deficit persists even after accounting for weight, indicating a developmental disadvantage for VLBW infants.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Neurodevelopment
- Neonatal Research
- Child Health Outcomes
Background:
- Very low birthweight (VLBW) infants face numerous developmental challenges.
- Assessing neurodevelopmental outcomes in VLBW children is crucial for early intervention.
- Hand-grip strength is a potential indicator of overall neuromuscular development.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare hand-grip strength between VLBW and normal birthweight (NBW) children at five years of age.
- To investigate the relationship between hand-grip strength, birthweight status, and weight percentile at five years.
- To determine if VLBW children exhibit persistent deficits in hand-grip strength.
Main Methods:
- A cohort of 24 VLBW and 18 NBW children underwent a 5-year neurodevelopmental assessment.
- Hand-grip strength was measured for individual hands and concurrently.
- Statistical analyses were performed to compare groups and assess correlations with weight percentile.
Main Results:
- VLBW children demonstrated significantly lower hand-grip strength in both left and right hands, and when tested concurrently.
- Hand-grip strength positively correlated with 5-year weight percentiles and NBW status.
- Even after adjusting for weight percentile, VLBW children's hand-grip strength remained significantly lower than NBW children's.
Conclusions:
- VLBW children experience a significant disadvantage in hand-grip strength at age five.
- This finding highlights another area of developmental delay in VLBW survivors.
- Monitoring hand-grip strength may offer insights into the long-term neuromuscular development of VLBW infants.
Abstract:
The hand-grip strength was measured as part of the 5-year neurodevelopmental assessment of 24 very low birthweight (VLBW) and 18 normal birthweight (NBW) children. Hand-grip strength was significantly lower in the VLBW children for left and right hands tested individually and for both hands used concurrently. Increasing hand-grip strength was significantly related to 5-year weight percentiles and to being in the NBW group. More of the VLBW children weighed less than the 10th percentile. After adjusting for the 5-year weight percentile, the hand-grip strength of VLBW children was still significantly lower than that for NBW children. This is another aspect of development in which VLBW children are disadvantaged.