Outcomes Across the Lifespan After Preterm Birth: An Overview for Primary Care Clinicians

Birth before 32 weeks' gestation, once associated with early mortality, now is commonly associated with long-term survival. Following discharge from the neonatal intensive care setting, the medical home transitions to the primary care setting. As such, primary care clinicians should be empowered with up-to-date knowledge of the spectrum of outcomes experienced by children born prematurely. This review highlights growth, pulmonary, developmental, and neurosensory outcomes in infancy and toddlerhood. For later childhood, neurological outcomes broaden to include behavioral, psychiatric, academic, and executive function outcomes. For adolescence and young adulthood, respiratory, cardiovascular, and mental health outcomes are highlighted to inform transition of care planning. The primary care clinician is encouraged to take a strengths-based approach that incorporates both surveillance for disease and promotion of healthy behaviors to optimize lifelong outcomes of individuals born preterm.