Educational achievement to age 11 years in children born at late preterm and early term gestations

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Health
• Educational Psychology
• Public Health

Background:

• Late preterm (LPT) birth (34-36 weeks) and early term birth (37-38 weeks) are common. The long-term educational outcomes for these children require further investigation.
• Understanding the impact of gestational age at birth on academic performance is crucial for early intervention and support.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the association between late preterm or early term birth and educational achievement in children from ages 5 to 11 years.
• To determine if specific academic subjects are more affected by non-full-term births.

Main Methods:

• Utilized longitudinal data from the Born-in-Bradford birth cohort study (2007-2011).
• Analyzed educational achievement using standardized teacher assessments and national tests at ages 5, 6, 7, and 11 years.
• Employed logistic regression to calculate adjusted odds ratios (aOR) for failing to achieve expected educational levels, comparing LPT and early term births to full-term births.

Main Results:

• Children born late preterm (LPT) had significantly higher adjusted odds of not achieving expected educational levels at age 5 (aOR 1.72) and age 7 (aOR 1.46) compared to full-term births.
• This association persisted for mathematics and writing at age 11 (aOR 1.51), though not for overall achievement.
• No significant educational achievement differences were found for children born early term.

Conclusions:

• Late preterm birth is strongly associated with educational underachievement, particularly in early school years and specific subjects like mathematics and writing up to age 11.
• While the overall achievement gap may narrow by age 11, specific subject deficits linked to LPT birth persist.
• Early term birth (37-38 weeks) does not appear to negatively impact educational outcomes in this cohort.