Longitudinal study of behaviour disorders in low birthweight infants

Abstract

Aim-To compare the prevalence of childhood and adolescent behavioural problems in low birthweight infants with matched controls. Methods-A cohort study of a geographically defined population of survivors of <1500 g birthweight born in 1980 and 1981 and age, sex, and school matched controls was undertaken. Children with a clinical disability were excluded. Data from Rutter questionnaires, completed by parents and teachers when the children were aged 8 and again at age 14 years, were assessed. Results-From an initial 40 321 births in 1980-81 there were 399 of birthweight <1500 g, of whom 219 survived to age 8. After exclusion of the 42 children with clinical disability, 177 cases comprised the sample. Of these, 10 (6%) refused or could not be contacted, leaving 167 cases for each of whom a matched control was obtained. At age 14 years, both parent and teacher questionnaires showed an increased prevalence of behavioural problems in cases compared with controls. The presence of a pervasive behavioural problem, when the responses of parents and teachers were concordant, was present in 9% of cases and 3% of controls. There were 132 pairs where the cases and controls were the same at ages 8 and 14 years and provided longitudinal data. The parental questionnaire showed there was a significant decrease in the prevalence of behavioural problems for cases and controls between the ages of 8 and 14 years. There was almost no longitudinal change in the prevalence of behavioural problems as shown by the teacher questionnaires. Conclusion-Although low birthweight infants are at increased risk of behavioural problems, because they comprise only a small proportion of all births, their population attributable risk for behavioural disorder is around 2-3%. (Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed 1999;81:F5-F9)

Behavioural outcomes and psychopathology during adolescence

“…e.g., [15,16,[24][25][26][27][28][29][30]. Varying prevalence estimates can be attributed to differences in population denominators and sample sizes.…”

“…Almost all studies using screening measures, such as those outlined above, have found significantly increased rates of behaviour problems in very preterm or VLBW adolescents. Using a cut-off for the risk of clinically significant problems, typically defined as scores >90 th percentile of a standardisation sample or that of matched controls, authors have reported a 3-8 fold increased risk for behavioural problems compared with term-born peers.e.g., [15,16,[24][25][26][27][28][29][30]. Varying prevalence estimates can be attributed to differences in population denominators and sample sizes.…”

Psychosocial and Academic Characteristics of Extremely Low Birth Weight (≤800 g) Adolescents Who Are Free of Major Impairment Compared With Term-Born Control Subjects

“…Behavioral and emotional problems have been reported in VLBW children at 8 and 14 years of age, 57 13 to 14 years of age, 22 and 12 to 16 years of age on parent ratings. 29 The overall risk of behavior disorder in the VLBW population has been estimated at 2% to 3% 57 ; however, in our perinatally higher risk cohort, we found a much higher prevalence.…”

Impact of prenatal stress on 1H NMR-based metabolic profiling of rat amniotic fluid

“…This method provides a coherent view of the complete metabolic response of organisms to physiological and pathophysiological stimuli. Preterm birth is associated with increased risk of neurological disorders [23,24] including cerebral palsy [25], mental retardation [26,27], learning difficulties [28][29][30] and behavioural problems [31]. The aetiology of preterm birth is related to premature membrane rupture in 30% of cases, to maternal and foetal indication for early pregnancy termination in 20-25% of cases and to spontaneous preterm births in about 40-45% of cases [32].…”