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Association between body composition at term equivalent age and Bayley scores at 2 years in preterm infants
Jenny Bua1, Francesco Maria Risso2, Maura Bin3
1Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Institute for Maternal and Child Health IRCCS "Burlo Garofolo", Trieste, Italy. jennybua@gmail.com.
Insights
Higher fat-free mass in preterm infants at term equivalent age is linked to better language and motor skills at two years. This finding highlights the importance of body composition for neurodevelopmental outcomes in premature babies.
Area of Science:
- Neonatalogy
- Developmental Pediatrics
- Body Composition Analysis
Background:
- Preterm infants often experience altered growth and body composition.
- Neurodevelopmental outcomes in preterm infants can be influenced by early life factors.
- Assessing body composition at term equivalent age (TEA) may offer insights into future development.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the correlation between body composition at term equivalent age (TEA) and neurodevelopmental outcomes in a cohort of preterm infants.
- To determine if specific body composition metrics at TEA predict cognitive and motor scores at 2 years of corrected age.
Main Methods:
- A historical cohort of 95 preterm infants underwent air-displacement plethysmography at TEA.
- Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development were administered at 2 years of corrected age to 74 infants.
- Multiple linear regression analysis was employed to assess associations, controlling for relevant covariates.
Main Results:
- Higher fat-free mass (FFM) z-score at TEA was significantly associated with higher composite scores in both language (adjusted r=0.28, p=0.03) and motor domains (adjusted r=0.33, p=0.03).
- These associations remained significant after adjusting for factors including birth weight, sex, maternal education, and mechanical ventilation.
Conclusions:
- Fat-free mass at term equivalent age is a significant predictor of enhanced language and motor development at two years corrected age in preterm infants.
- Early body composition assessment may serve as a valuable tool for identifying preterm infants at risk for developmental delays.
Objective:
To evaluate whether in a historical cohort of preterm infants, body composition at term equivalent age (TEA) correlated with Bayley scores at 2 years of corrected age.
Study Design:
Ninety-five preterm babies were admitted to our neonatal intensive unit and underwent air-displacement plethysmography assessment at TEA. Of these, 74 completed Bayley tests at 2 years. We used multiple linear regression analysis to assess the association of body composition with Bayley scores.
Results:
Mean gestational age and birthweight of our population were respectively 29.8 (±2.2) weeks and 1150 (±330) grams. Higher fat-free mass (FFM) z-score was associated with higher language (adjusted r = 0.28, p = 0.03) and motor composite scores (adjusted r = 0.33, p = 0.03) in both univariate and multiple regression analysis including birth weight, sex, maternal university degree, mechanical ventilation, and bilingualism.
Conclusions:
In our study FFM at term equivalent age was associated with higher Bayley composite motor and language scores at 2 years.
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