title: The profile of executive function in very preterm children at 4 to 12 years.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine executive functioning in very preterm (gestational age ≤30 wks) children at 4 to 12 years of age.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two-hundred very preterm (106 males, 94 females; mean gestational age 28.1wks, SD 1.4; mean age 8y 2mo, SD 2y 6mo) and 230 term children (106 males, 124 females; mean gestational age 39.9wks, SD 1.2; mean age 8y 4mo, SD 2y 3mo) without severe disabilities, born between 1996 and 2004, were assessed on an executive function battery comprising response inhibition, interference control, switching, verbal fluency, verbal and spatial working memory, and planning. Multiple regression analyses examined group differences while adjusting for effects of parental education, age, sex, and speed indices.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Relative to children born at term, very preterm children had significant (p(s) <0.02; where p(s) represents p-values) deficits in verbal fluency (0.5 standardized mean differences [SMD]), response inhibition (0.4 SMD), planning (0.4 SMD), and verbal and spatial working memory (0.3 SMD), independent of slow and highly fluctuating processing speed. A significant group by age interaction indicated that group differences for response inhibition decreased between 4 and 12 years.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Very preterm birth is associated with a profile of affected and non-affected executive functions independent of impaired speed. Deficits are of small to moderate magnitude and persist over time, except for response inhibition for which very preterm children catch up with peers.
authors: Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, Erasmus University Medical Centre, Sophia Children's Hospital, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. c.moens@erasmusmc.nl
authors: Cornelieke S H
authors: CS
authors: Aarnoudse-Moens
authors: Hugo J
authors: HJ
authors: Duivenvoorden
authors: Nynke
authors: N
authors: Weisglas-Kuperus
authors: Johannes B
authors: JB
authors: Van Goudoever
authors: Jaap
authors: J
authors: Oosterlaan
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012737:Sex Factors; D014706:Verbal Learning / Q000502:physiology*