Educational Performance of Extremely Preterm Infants in Primary School

As survival rates of extremely preterm infants (EPT, <28 weeks' gestation) improve, understanding their long-term outcomes becomes more important. We describe real-life outcomes from standardized nationwide academic tests children complete during their school years.

This is a longitudinal data linkage study of children born between 2001 and 2010 in New South Wales, Australia. Administrative pregnancy, birth, hospital, and education data were linked with school performance data obtained from National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) administered at 7 to 9 years of age (grade 3). The school outcomes of infants born EPT are presented, including sitting or not sitting NAPLAN examinations and scoring at or below the national minimum standard (NMS). Sociodemographic and health risk factors for poor performance were also explored.

The study included 1409 infants born EPT. Of infants born EPT, 86.6% (n = 1221) sat the NAPLAN examination in grade 3. The proportion of EPT scoring above NMS was 78.5% (n = 959) in reading and 69.6% (n = 959) in numeracy. The strongest risk factors for poor school performance, with up to 2-fold increased risk, were parental sociodemographic characteristics and smoking in pregnancy.

Most children born EPT sat NAPLAN examinations in grade 3, and the majority performed above the NMS. Neonatal morbidity influenced the likelihood of children sitting the examinations, whereas sociodemographic risk factors impacted examination results. Many of the identified risk factors for poor performance were associated with social drivers of health and may benefit from initiatives to reduce socioeconomic disadvantage and targeted public health, educational initiatives.