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Assessment and Evaluation of the High Risk Neonate: The NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale
Published on: August 25, 2014
Mental and intellectual development of neonatal surgical children in a long-term follow-up
1First Department of Surgery, Akita University School of Medicine, Japan.
Insights
Neonatal surgery and prolonged hospital stays may impact children's cognitive development. Higher surgical stress and more operations correlated with lower WISC-R and Bender-Gestalt test scores, indicating potential intellectual deficits.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Surgery
- Developmental Psychology
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Neonatal surgical interventions can be extensive.
- Long-term effects of early life stress on cognitive development require further investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the mental and intellectual development of children with a history of neonatal surgery.
- To identify correlations between surgical/hospitalization factors and cognitive outcomes.
Main Methods:
- Utilized the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) and the Bender-Gestalt Test (BGT).
- Assessed 75 children aged 6-10 years with prior neonatal operations.
- Correlated test results with surgical stress scores, number of operations, and hospitalization duration.
Main Results:
- WISC-R scores showed significant correlations with total surgical stress, number of operations, and hospitalization duration.
- A trend towards verbal IQ deficiency was noted in many patients.
- BGT results also correlated with the number of operations and hospitalization duration.
- Children with anorectal anomalies appeared more affected.
Conclusions:
- Accumulated therapeutic stress from neonatal operations and hospitalizations may negatively affect cognitive development.
- Early life surgical experiences can have lasting impacts on intellectual functioning.
Abstract:
The mental and intellectual development of 75 children aged 6 to 10 years who had undergone operations during their neonatal period was estimated using the WISC-R intelligence test and the Bender-Gestalt test (BGT). WISC-R test results correlated with patients' total surgical stress scores, number of operations, and total duration of hospitalization. A tendency for verbal IQ deficiency was observed in many patients. BGT results correlated with the number of operations and total period of hospitalization. Patients with anorectal anomalies were apparently affected more than those with other diseases. An accumulation of therapeutic stresses relating to operations and hospitalizations during childhood extending through the neonatal period may affect subsequent mental and intellectual development.
