Developmental delay at 12 months in children born extremely preterm.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the feasibility and validity of a structured telephone interview to assess the development of children born extremely preterm.


METHODS
The parents of 88 children born with a gestational age below 28 wk admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, were interviewed by telephone when their child was 1 y of age, corrected for preterm birth. A fully structured questionnaire on psychomotor function was used (Revised Prescreening Developmental Questionnaire (R-PDQ)). The parents of 30 children born at term without complications were interviewed for comparison. The interview was conducted by NICU staff. To validate the R-PDQ, parents of 22 children in the preterm group and parents of 19 children in the reference group conducted an Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ) when their children had reached the age of 3-3(1/2) y.


RESULTS
The R-PDQ was easy to use by staff and well accepted by parents. The mean score in the preterm group was 14.9+/-3.9 vs 17.7+/-2.7 in the term group (p<0.001). Three children had developmental scores below-2 SD. The R-PDQ score was associated with the ASQ score 2 y later.


CONCLUSIONS
A structured questionnaire administrated by telephone is an alternative and usable tool for assessing neurodevelopmental deficit in children born extremely preterm. The mean developmental delay in the preterm group compared to the term group (about-1 SD) was close to expectations.
Lando
Ane
A
Department of Neonatology, Juliane Marie Centre, Copenhagen University Hospital, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark. alando@dadlnet.dk
Klamer
Anja
A
Jonsbo
Finn
F
Weiss
Janne
J
Greisen
Gorm
G
D002675:Child, Preschool; D003718:Denmark / Q000453:epidemiology; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D007363:Intensive Care Units, Neonatal; D007407:Interviews as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013689:Telephone