title: Preterm Cognitive Function Into Adulthood.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Very preterm (VP; gestational age <32 weeks) and very low birth weight (VLBW; <1500 g) births are related to impaired cognitive function across the life span. It is not known how stable cognitive functions are from childhood to adulthood for VP/VLBW compared with term-born individuals and how early adult cognitive function can be predicted.
  
  
  METHODS
  The Bavarian Longitudinal Study is a prospective geographically defined cohort study that followed 260 VP/VLBW and 229 term-born individuals from birth to adulthood. Data on cognitive function were assessed with developmental and IQ tests at 5 and 20 months and at 4, 6, 8, and 26 years of age.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Across all assessments, VP/VLBW individuals had significantly lower IQ scores than term-born controls, even when individuals with severe cognitive impairment (n = 69) were excluded. IQ scores were found to be more stable over time for VP/VLBW than term-born individuals, yet differences in stability disappeared when individuals with cognitive impairment were excluded. Adult IQ could be predicted with fair certainty (r > 0.50) from age 20 months onward for the whole VP/VLBW sample (n = 260) and from 6 years onward for term-born individuals (n = 229).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  VP/VLBW individuals more often suffer from cognitive problems across childhood into adulthood and these problems are relatively stable from early childhood onward. VP/VLBW children's risk for cognitive problems can be reliably diagnosed at the age of 20 months. These findings provide strong support for the timing of cognitive follow-up at age 2 years to plan special support services for children with cognitive problems.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, and.
authors.forename: Linda D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Breeman
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, and Department of Developmental Psychology, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany; and.
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jaekel
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, and.
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Baumann
authors.affiliation: Department of Neonatology, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bartmann
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, and Division of Mental Health and Wellbeing, Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, Coventry, United Kingdom; D.Wolke@warwick.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Dieter
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wolke
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003071:Cognition; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005858:Germany; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D062071:Infant, Extremely Premature / Q000523:psychology*; D019102:Infant, Very Low Birth Weight / Q000523:psychology*; D007360:Intelligence; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D055815:Young Adult