title: Neurodevelopmental profile in low-risk preterm infants at 5 years of age.
abstract: The goal of this study is to determine the neurodevelopmental profile of a group of low-risk preterm infants and to determine whether the potentially unfavourable outcome is due to a few infants with moderate to severe impairments or to a majority of infants with only slight impairments. In a prospective study 44 low-risk preterm infants, i.e. infants with a neonatal risk score indicating a favourable outcome, born between 25-34 weeks gestational age, and 18 healthy term infants were examined neurologically and tested neuropsychologically at 5 years of age. The more unfavourable outcome in the group of low-risk preterm infants compared with the term infants was largely attributable to a poorer outcome in 12 of the 44 low-risk preterm infants. The remaining low-risk preterm infants showed similar test scores compared with the term infants. From these results we conclude that the unfavourable neurodevelopmental outcome of low-risk preterm infants is due to moderate to severe impairment in a few low-risk preterm infants, rather than slight impairment in the majority. The low-risk preterm infants with an unfavourable outcome showed particular impairment on measures of visual-motor integration, concentration and auditory memory in combination with integrative functions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, University Hospital Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Pasman
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Rotteveel
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Maassen
mesh_terms: D001724:Birth Weight; D001921:Brain / Q000002:abnormalities / Q000502:physiology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature / Q000502:physiology*; D019957:Motor Skills Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D009460:Neurologic Examination / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011596:Psychomotor Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires