Very preterm children who do not cooperate with assessments at three years of age: skill differences at five years.
This study examined skill differences at 5 years of age for very preterm children who were or were not cooperative with developmental testing at 3 years of age. All children born between 1986 and 1991 who were less than 30 weeks of gestation were followed prospectively. Two hundred one children were seen at both the 3- and 5-year assessments. Of the 201 children, 24 (11.9%) who had been uncooperative in the assessment at 3 years were seen at 5 years. Uncooperative children were matched to a group of cooperative children for sex, gestation, and/or birth weight. Nonparametric analyses revealed that scores on the Binet Pattern Analysis (p < .01) and the Bead Memory (p < .01) subtests were significantly different between the groups. The uncooperative children scored significantly more often in the at-risk range for tests of minor neurological dysfunction (MND; p < .01) compared with cooperative matched controls. The authors speculate that in very preterm children, uncooperative behavior shown at 3 years of age associated with poor visual/spatial skills and a high level of MND at 5 years of age may reveal children at risk for the development of nonverbal learning disabilities.
Wocadlo
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Neonatal Development Follow-Up Clinic, Department of Neonatal Medicine, King George V Hospital, Camperdown, Sydney, Australia. crista@peri.rpa.cs.nsw.gov.au
Rieger
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D000367:Age Factors; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature / Q000523:psychology*; D019102:Infant, Very Low Birth Weight / Q000523:psychology*; D007360:Intelligence; D007859:Learning Disabilities / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric