title: Preterm birth and developmental problems in infancy and preschool age Part II: cognitive, neuropsychological and behavioural outcomes.
abstract: Few studies focus on the neuropsychological and behavioural outcomes of preterm children at preschool age. This article reviews the most recent and relevant contributions on cognitive, neuropsychological and behavioural outcomes, and the neuroradiological findings in extremely and very preterm infants. In the first 2 years of life, cognitive impairment is common: it has an incidence of 30-40% and a higher prevalence than neuromotor and neurosensorial impairments. Recent studies report that even preterm infants with no major disabilities at preschool age perform more poorly than term peers in multiple neuropsychological domains, such as language, attention, memory, visuomotor and visuospatial processing and executive functions. The incidence and severity of problems increase with decreasing gestational age. A delayed acquisition of neuropsychological functions and/or the occurrence of behavioural problems at preschool age are likely to be predictive of the high rate of cognitive deficits at school age and in adolescence. Neuropsychological functions across multiple developmental domains should be assessed longitudinally during routine follow-up checks.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Pediatrics and Neonatal Medicine and NICU of Modena University Hospital , Modena , Italy.
authors.forename: Marisa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pugliese
authors.forename: Cecilia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rossi
authors.forename: Isotta
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Guidotti
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gallo
authors.forename: Elisa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Della Casa
authors.forename: Natascia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bertoncelli
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Coccolini
authors.forename: Fabrizio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ferrari
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature / Q000254:growth & development*; D007235:Infant, Premature, Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011247:Pregnancy; D047928:Premature Birth / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology