Abstract
Background
Being born with very low birth weight (<1500 g) is associated with poorer neurocognition later in life. The aim of this study was to explore neurodevelopmental functions in those born with marginally LBW (2000–2500 g).
Methods
This was originally a randomized controlled trial investigating the effects of early iron supplementation in 285 marginally LBW children. Herein, we explored the combined marginally LBW group and compared their results to 95 normal birth weight (NBW; 2501–4500 g) controls in an observational design. At 7 years, a pediatric psychologist tested the children using Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC IV), Beery–Buktenica developmental test of Visual–Motor Integration (Beery VMI), and Test of Everyday Attention for Children (TEA-Ch).
Results
The marginally LBW children had lower verbal comprehension intelligence quotient (IQ) (104 vs. 107, P=0.004), lower VMI scores (96.5 vs. 100, P=0.028), and lower total mean TEA-Ch scores (8.5 vs. 9.7, P=0.006), compared to controls. Also, the marginally LBW children group had a higher proportion of children below −1 SD for VMI and TEA-Ch.
Conclusions
Marginally LBW children had lower verbal comprehension IQ, lower visual–motor integration, and lower attention performance than NBW children, suggesting an increased risk of cognitive difficulties in early school age.
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Acknowledgements
We thank all participating families, our research nurses Kerstin Andersson and Åsa Sundström, and our pediatric psychologists Lea Forsman and Stephanie Sundén-Cullberg, Anna Crüsell. and Marie Adamsson Johansson.
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This work was supported by grants from the Swedish Research Council Formas (grant 222-2002-1894), the Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare (grant FORTE-2012-0708), the Swedish Heart Lung Foundation (project 20090380), the Jerring Foundation, the Oskar Foundation, the Childhood Foundation of the Swedish Order of Freemasons, a regional agreement between Umeå University and Västerbotten County Council (ALF), and a regional agreement on clinical research (ALF) between Stockholm County Council and Karolinska Institutet.
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Starnberg, J., Norman, M., Westrup, B. et al. Lower cognitive test scores at age 7 in children born with marginally low birth weight. Pediatr Res 83, 1129–1135 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/pr.2018.35
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/pr.2018.35
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