New Zealand 1986 Very Low Birthweight Follow-up Study: the third decade

Exposures in utero and in early life have the potential to influence health across the lifespan through neurological, epigenetic and other physiological processes. Very low birthweight (VLBW; <1,500g) and very preterm (VP; <32 weeks gestation) births constitute around 2% of live births but have significant child, family and public health impacts neonatally and longer term. Parents/caregivers, funders and society want to know the quality of that survival across the lifecourse. The New Zealand 1986 Very Low Birthweight Follow-up Study is a population-based, longitudinal study that has followed a national cohort of individuals from birth in 1986 across childhood and into adulthood. At a mean 28.5 years, 250 VLBW adults (77% survivors; 25% Māori) and 100 term-born controls participated in follow-up, with 229 VLBW adults and all controls attending a 2-day medical and neurocognitive assessment. The aim of this report is to give an overview of the published major findings from the 28-year assessments. The majority of VLBW young adults were living healthy productive lives, similar to their term-born peers. Biomedical measurements were mostly in the normal range, although between-group mean differences tended to favour the controls, suggesting potential risk of premature organ function decline within the VLBW group. We compare our results with other emerging international data and discuss the implications for future research and possible interventions across the lifecourse to optimise outcomes for this vulnerable group.