title: Psychiatric disorders in low birthweight young adults. Prevalence and association with assessments at 11 years.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare mental health of 136 young adults without neurosensory handicaps born with low birthweight (LBW, birthweight less than 2,000 g) with 132 adults with normal birthweight (NBW).
  
  
  METHODS
  A cohort of moderate LBW and NBW young adults were assessed with the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) at 19 years and the Children Assessment Schedule (CAS) at 11 years of age.
  
  
  RESULTS
  At 19 years of age, 44 out of 136 (32%) LBW young adults were diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder compared to 10% NBW (OR: 2.8; 95% CI: 1.1, 4.5, P=0.02). Among the LBW young adults, affective-, anxiety-, ADHD- and antisocial personality disorders were most common, and nine subjects (20%) had more than one diagnosis. Of 97 LBW subjects examined both at 11 and 19 years of age, 54 (56%) were mentally healthy though out adolescence. This was half as many as for controls (OR: 0.6; 95% CI: 0.3 to 0.9).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Moderate LBW was associated with an increased risk of psychiatric disorders in young adulthood. Only half of LBW young adults stayed healthy throughout adolescence.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway; Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Haukeland University Hospital, Norway; Department of Pediatric, Haukeland University Hospital, Norway. Electronic address: ielg@helse-bergen.no.
authors.forename: I B
authors.initials: IB
authors.lastname: Elgen
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Holsten
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Odberg
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007230:Infant, Low Birth Weight / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D008603:Mental Health; D015995:Prevalence; D012306:Risk; D055815:Young Adult