[Long-term prognosis of former very and extremely preterm babies in adulthood in Germany].
Previous studies about the prognosis of former very and extremely small preterm babies (birthweight <1500 g, gestational age <32 weeks) in Germany only reached till puberty. Well known are significant increases of cognitive deficits, cerebral palsy and sensory impairments in correlation with gestational age and compared with term newborns. After a pilot project at the Children's University Hospital in Wuerzburg we collected the data of 291 people from 10 different children's Hospitals in Germany who were born between Jan 1st 1979 and Dec 31st 1986. We could recognize a clear increase of surviving babies after 1982. 50 (17%) of them had a birth weight under 1000 g. 27% finished school with the highest grade ("Abitur"), 37% with a high school degree and 22% with a normal degree. Most of them are still in an occupational training. 22% referred about chronic bronchitis, 54% need spectacles, 19% have regular physiotherapy. By a questionnaire about the quality of life (KIDDO KINDL) we recorded criteria in the fields of physical and psychological wellness and the all day functioning which were without significant differences to a normal cohort. In addition there was no difference in the quality of life criteria between former preterm babies born in West-Germany and those born in East-German hospitals. Further analyses of these results are necessary. In conclusion we could find that quality of life in those former very preterm babies in Germany who are now in adulthood and took part in our study is not significantly worse in comparison with people without any risk factors in the perinatal period. For more exact analysis of many influencing factors on the long term prognosis of former very preterm babies a national multicenter study is absolutely necessary, especially for preterms under 1000 g birthweight.
Strassburg
H M
HM
Universitäts-Kinderklinik, Würzburg. Strassburg_H@kinderklinik.uni-wuerzburg.de
Leimer
S
S
Platz
A
A
Thomas
W
W
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004493:Education; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D005865:Gestational Age; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D019102:Infant, Very Low Birth Weight; D008297:Male; D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011379:Prognosis; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires