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Birth weight and physical ability in 5- to 8-yr-old healthy children born prematurely
1Ribstein Center for Research and Sport Medicine Sciences, Wingate Institute, Netanya, Israel. bfalk@ccsg.tau.ac.il
Insights
Prematurely born children show lower neuromuscular performance, particularly in peak power and coordination, compared to full-term peers. These deficits are more pronounced in extremely low birth weight infants, suggesting underlying neuromotor factors.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Neuromuscular Physiology
- Developmental Pediatrics
- Perinatal Medicine
Background:
- Advances in perinatal care improve survival rates for extremely premature newborns.
- Increased survival is associated with a higher incidence of neurodevelopmental impairments.
- Understanding the specific functional deficits in these children is crucial for targeted interventions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To quantitatively assess and compare neuromuscular performance in children born prematurely.
- To investigate the relationship between birth weight and neuromuscular function in preterm infants.
- To identify potential neuromotor factors contributing to performance differences.
Main Methods:
- Study included 5- to 8-year-old children born prematurely (535-1760g, N=22) and age-matched full-term controls (>2500g, N=15).
- Neuromuscular performance was evaluated using a modified Wingate Anaerobic Test and a force-plate vertical jump test.
- Measurements included peak mechanical power output, peak force, and jump take-off dynamics, all corrected for body mass.
Main Results:
- Prematurely born children exhibited lower body mass and significantly reduced peak mechanical power output and peak jump power compared to controls.
- Deficits in power output were more severe in the extremely low birth weight (ELBW, <1000g) subgroup.
- Premature children showed a longer time between peak velocity and jump take-off, indicating potential inter-muscular coordination issues, with no difference in peak force.
Conclusions:
- Premature birth, especially at extremely low birth weights, is associated with quantifiable deficits in neuromuscular performance.
- The findings suggest that impaired inter-muscular coordination may underlie the observed performance deficiencies.
- Further research is needed to precisely identify the responsible neuromotor factors for targeted therapeutic strategies.
Abstract:
Recent advances in perinatal care have resulted in increased survival rates of extremely small and immature newborns. This has resulted in some neurodevelopmental impairment. The purpose of this study was to quantitatively evaluate and compare neuromuscular performance in children born prematurely at various levels of subnormal birth weight (BW). Subjects were 5- to 8-yr-old children born prematurely at different levels of subnormal BW (535-1760 g, N = 22, PM), and age-matched controls born at full term (> 2500 g, N = 15, CON). None of the subjects had any clinically defined neuromuscular disabilities. Body mass (BM) of PM was lower than that of CON (18.3 +/- 2.7 vs 21.7 +/- 3.8 kg) with no difference in height or sum of 4 skinfolds. Peak mechanical power output determined with a 15-s modified Wingate Anaerobic Test and corrected for BM was lower (P = 0.07) in PM than in CON (5.11 +/- 1.07 vs 5.94 +/- 1.00 W.kg-1). This was especially noticeable in children born at extremely low BW (ELBW, < 1000 g, 4.49 +/- 1.04 W.kg-1, P < 0.01). Peak power, determined in a force-plate vertical jump, corrected for BM was lower in PM vs CON (25.5 +/- 5.4 vs 30.8 +/- 5.2 W.kg-1, respectively P = 0.01), especially in the ELBW group (20.0 +/- 5.5 W.kg-1). Similarly, the elapsed time between peak velocity and actual jump take-off was longer in PM than in CON (41.2 +/- 9.4 vs 35.8 +/- 5.8 ms, respectively, P = 0.04). No differences were observed in peak force. The results suggest that performance deficiencies of prematurely-born children may be a result of inferior inter-muscular coordination. The precise neuromotor factors responsible for this should be identified by future research.