Seven-year-old EPT children perform worse than their term-born peers in tests for visual-motor, somatosensory, and motor planning performance.

Aim Preterm birth poses concerns in daily functioning and behaviour in childhood, possibly connected to sensory processing disorder. This review aimed to systematically identify assessments, incidence and nature of sensory processing disorder in preterm‐born infants and children. Methods We searched literature through CINAHL‐EBSCOhost, Cochrane, Ovid/PsychINFO, PubMed/Medline, Scopus and Google Scholar, published until November 2018. We included electronically available, peer‐reviewed studies of preterm‐born children that applied standardised sensory processing assessments. We excluded studies of preterm‐born children with major neurodevelopmental impairments. Results We identified 27 studies of premature children, aged from birth to 9 years 7 months. The assessments represented three versions of Sensory Profile questionnaires and three clinical tests, Test of Sensory Functions in Infants, the Miller Assessment for Preschoolers, and the Sensory Integration and Praxis Test. The studies revealed wide variation of atypical sensory processing: 28%‐87% in sensory modulation, 9%‐70% in somatosensory processing and 20%‐70% in sensory‐based motor processing. Conclusion Preterm‐born children exhibited elevated risk for sensory processing disorder from infancy into school age. Routine screening of sensory processing, intervention intervals and parental consultations should be considered in ameliorating sensory processing and neurocognitive development. Moreover, a larger body of intervention studies is needed.

AimThis study investigated minor impairments in neurological, sensorimotor, and neuropsychological functioning in extremely preterm-born (EPT) children compared to term-born children. The aim was to explore the most affected domains and to visualize their co-occurrences in relationship maps.MethodsA prospective cohort of 56 EPT children (35 boys) and 37 term-born controls (19 boys) were assessed at a median age of 6 years 7 months with Touwen Neurological Examination, Movement Assessment Battery for Children, 2nd edition (MABC-2), Sensory Integration and Praxis Test (SIPT), and a Developmental Neuropsychological Assessment, 2nd edition (NEPSY-II). Altogether 20 test domains were used to illustrate the frequency of impaired test performances with a bar chart profile and to construct relationship maps of co-occurring impairments.ResultsThe EPT children were more likely to perform inferiorly compared to the term-born controls across all assessments, with a wider variance and more co-occurring impairments. When aggregating all impaired test domains, 45% of the EPT children had more impaired domains than any term-born child (more than five domains, p < 0.001). Relationship maps showed that minor neurological dysfunction (MND), NEPSY-II design copying, and SIPT finger identification constituted the most prominent relationship of co-occurring impairments in both groups. However, it was ten times more likely in the EPT group. Another relationship of co-occurring MND, impairment in NEPSY-II design copying, and NEPSY-II imitation of hand positions was present in the EPT group only.InterpretationMultiple minor impairments accumulate among EPT children at six years, suggesting that EPT children and their families may need support and timely multi-professional interventions throughout infancy and childhood.