Cognitive development at age 8 years in very low birth weight children in Taiwan.
OBJECTIVE
All children should have some developmental screening periodically throughout childhood, especially those who were born prematurely. There is limited information about the development of children with very low birth weight (VLBW; birth weight < 1500 g) beyond the preschool age in Taiwan. We evaluated intelligence quotient (IQ) and cognitive ability of prematurely born school-aged children in Taiwan.


METHODS
This was a multicenter study of VLBW and full-term children born between 1995 and 1997 at four hospitals in northern Taiwan. We used the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, 3rd Edition (WISC-III), to assess these children. Demographic data were recorded including maternal and paternal age, education, birth weight, gestational age, and gender.


RESULTS
A total of 189 children (130 with VLBW born prematurely and 59 born at full term) were recruited. There were significant differences in performance IQ (PIQ; 90.16 +/- 17.05 vs. 108.51 +/- 15.65, p < 0.001), verbal IQ (VIQ; 97.43 +/- 15.62 vs. 111.78 +/- 13.65, p < 0.001), full-scale IQ (FSIQ; 93.14 +/- 16.33 vs. 111.05 +/- 14.81, p < 0.001), verbal comprehension index score (VCIS; 98.06 +/- 15.53 vs. 112.47 +/- 13.74, p < 0.001), perceptional organization index score (POIS; 92.39 +/- 17.13 vs. 109.42 +/- 14.87, p < 0.001) and freedom from distractibility index score (FDIS; 98.34 +/- 17.71 vs. 110.53 +/- 10.94, p = 0.008). There was no correlation between perinatal outcomes and FSIQ.


CONCLUSIONS
Our results suggest that VLBW children have significantly lower PIQ, VIQ, FSIQ, VCIS, POIS and FDIS at primary school compared with full-term children.
Mu
Shu-Chi
SC
Department of Pediatrics, Shin-Kong Wu Ho-Su Memorial Hospital, Institute of Clinical Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, and College of Medicine, Fu Jen Catholic University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Tsou
Kuo-Su
KS
Hsu
Chyong-Hsin
CH
Fang
Li-Jung
LJ
Jeng
Suh-Fang
SF
Chang
Chia-Han
CH
Tsou
Kuo-Inn
KI
D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature / Q000254:growth & development; D019102:Infant, Very Low Birth Weight / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000523:psychology; D007360:Intelligence / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013624:Taiwan