Very Low Birth Weight Infants Treatment

Very Low Birth Weight Infants Treatment 

Background: At school age, very low birth weight (VLBW) children have poorer academic performance and cognitive function compared with normal birth weight control subjects. The learning problems observed in these children persist into adolescence and have been seen even in VLBW children who have normal intelligence and no neurologic impairment. Whether these adverse effect of VLBW persist into adulthood was determined.

Methods: A cohort of 242 young adults who were VLBW infants born between 1977 and 1979, and 233 control subjects from the same population in Cleveland who had normal weight at birth were studied. Those born at VLBW had a mean weight at birth of 1179 g and a mean gestational age at birth of 29.7 weeks. For both of these groups, the level of education, and cognitive and academic achievement, as well as the rates of chronic illness and risk-taking behavior were assessed at 20 years of age. The outcomes were adjusted for sex and sociodemographic status.

Results: Rates of graduation from high school were lower among VLBW young adults than among control subjects (74% vs 83%). The VLBW adults had rates of chronic conditions that were significantly higher than those for the control subjects. VLBW men were significantly less likely than male control subjects to be enrolled in postsecondary education (30% vs 53%); however, this was not true of VLBW women. Young adults in the VLBW group also had a lower mean IQ than the normal control group (87 vs 92) and lower academic achievement scores as well as higher rates of neurosensory impairment (10% vs 1%). Subnormal height was also more prevalent among the VLBW young adults compared with normal control subjects (10% vs 5%). Adults in the VLBW group reported less use of alcohol and drugs and had lower rates of pregnancy than normal control subjects; these differences remained when only participants without neurosensory impairment were compared.

Conclusions: The neurodevelopmental and growth related sequelae of VLBW and the poor academic achievement reported in these children appears to persist into adulthood. However, these adverse effects were not associated with increased risk-taking behavior or criminal activity.