Mercier C, Deforge H, Hascoët JM. Neurodevelopment at seven years and parents' feelings of prematurely born children.
Front Pediatr 2022;
10:1004785. [PMID:
36545662 PMCID:
PMC9760962 DOI:
10.3389/fped.2022.1004785]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2022] [Accepted: 11/08/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND
The evolution of knowledge and technical advances in neonatal resuscitation have improved the survival of very premature babies. However, the long-term neurodevelopmental prognosis and cognitive and learning abilities are still uncertain.
OBJECTIVE
This study aimed to evaluate the neurodevelopment and learning abilities of 7-year-old children born prematurely, and their parents' feelings at 8 years of age.
PATIENTS AND METHODS
Data from children born before 33 weeks gestation in a level III maternity hospital and involved in a regional follow-up network were analyzed at 7 years of age. Neurodevelopmental abnormalities were defined as cerebral palsy, hearing or visual impairment, and/or behavioral abnormalities. School performance was evaluated by the EDA test. A parents' questionnaire assessed their feelings about the child's and family's quality of life at 8 years of age.
RESULTS
At 7 years of age, 51% of the 238 children presented neurodevelopmental abnormalities: 3.3% with cerebral palsy, 6.2% with hearing impairments, 50.7% with visual impairments, and 11.3% with behavioral disorders. The children with neurodevelopmental abnormalities had lower gestational age (29.0 ± 2.0 vs. 30.0 ± 2.1 weeks, p = 0.003) and more EEG abnormalities during the neonatal period (31.1% vs. 19.8%, p = 0.048) than the children without abnormalities. Ninety-four percent of the children with abnormalities were enrolled in normal schools, 33% with special support. In the overall cohort, 31% of the children had all academic performance scores in the normal range of the reference population. At 8 years old, 39% of the parents of children with neurodevelopmental abnormalities felt that their child's situation significantly impacted their quality of life compared to 14% of parents of children without neurodevelopmental abnormality (p = 0.022).
CONCLUSION
Half of children born very prematurely present with long-term neurodevelopmental abnormalities, which their parents feel significantly impacts their quality of life.
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