BackgroundLate preterm and early term births constitute a significant proportion of live births. However, handwriting skills of these two populations remain unclear. We aimed to investigate their risk for poor Chinese handwriting in grade two.MethodsA total of 185 second graders born late preterm (34+ 0-36+ 6 weeks gestation, n = 54), early term (37+ 0-38+ 6 weeks gestation, n = 56), and full term (39+ 0-41+ 6 weeks gestation, n = 75) without any intervention or diagnosis related to developmental delays were included. Their handwriting performance was rated by teachers using the Chinese Handwriting Evaluation Form (CHEF), which is a standardized handwriting scale including five handwriting dimensions (construction, accuracy, directionality, speed, and pencil grasp).ResultsAfter controlling for demographic risk factors, the late preterm born group had a greater risk of having worse performance in the full form (adjusted odds ratio < OR > = 3.93; p = .038) and construction dimension (adjusted OR = 4.77; p = .009) of the CHEF than peers born at full term; whereas the risks were comparable for the early and full term born groups.ConclusionsLate preterm but not early term born children were found to be at higher risk for poor Chinese handwriting in grade two. They particularly have difficulty with spatial construction including size, spacing, and alignment of Chinese characters and components that may influence handwriting legibility.

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