title: Outcome at 3 years of age in a population-based cohort of extremely preterm infants.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess health and neurodevelopmental outcome at 3 years of age in neonatal intensive care unit (NICU)-surviving children who were born at 26 or fewer weeks of gestation in a geographically defined region of Belgium from 1999 through 2000.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study included a clinical examination and a standardized neurologic and developmental assessment. Disabilities were defined by international criteria. In 97% (92 of 95) of the children, accurate information on the presence of overall disability could be collected.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Thirty-six percent (95% confidence interval [CI] 25-47%) of the formally assessed children (28 of 77) had deficient neuromotor development, with 5% of them showing severe sensory-communicative impairment. Mean (+/-standard deviation) scores on the Mental Developmental Index and Psychomotor Developmental Index were 81.2 (18.8) and 73.2 (17.8), respectively. Seventy percent (95% CI 60-80%) had a mental (Mental Developmental Index) or psychomotor (Psychomotor Developmental Index) impairment or both, assessed to be more than 1 standard deviation below the population mean. Mental and psychomotor outcome did not differ significantly when compared according to either gestational age, gender, or multiple birth (all P>.05). When either minor central dysfunction or cerebral palsy was not taken into account, normal mental development was recorded in 62% of the subjects. The cumulative of poor outcome (ie, disability- or prematurity-related death) among the 95 infants discharged alive was estimated to be 58% (95% CI 48-68%), representing 25 (26%) mildly-to-moderately disabled and 28 (29%) severely disabled toddlers, including two infants whose postdischarge deaths were directly related to prematurity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The average developmental outcome is poor in children born as extremely preterm infants. Finding early predictors of adverse outcome is a major challenge.
authors: Research Group Developmental Disabilities, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
authors: Isabel
authors: I
authors: De Groote
authors: Piet
authors: P
authors: Vanhaesebrouck
authors: Els
authors: E
authors: Bruneel
authors: Lina
authors: L
authors: Dom
authors: Isabelle
authors: I
authors: Durein
authors: Danielle
authors: D
authors: Hasaerts
authors: Sabine
authors: S
authors: Laroche
authors: Ann
authors: A
authors: Oostra
authors: Els
authors: E
authors: Ortibus
authors: Herbert
authors: H
authors: Roeyers
authors: Christine
authors: C
authors: van Mol
mesh_terms: D001530:Belgium / Q000453:epidemiology; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature / Q000254:growth & development*; D009420:Nervous System / Q000254:growth & development*; D009422:Nervous System Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011262:Pregnancy Trimester, Second; D011379:Prognosis