Face recognition impairment in small for gestational age and preterm children.
BACKGROUND
Infants born prematurely or with low birth weight are at increased risk of visual perceptual impairment. Face recognition is a high-order visual ability important for social development, which has been rarely assessed in premature or low birth weight children.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the influence of prematurity and low birth weight on face recognition skills.


METHODS
Seventy-seven children were evaluated as part of a prospective cohort study. They were divided into premature and term birth cohorts. Children with a birth weight below the 10th centile were considered small for gestational age. All children underwent a full ophthalmologic assessment and evaluation of face recognition skills using the Facial Memory subtest from the Test of Memory and Learning.


RESULTS
Premature infants scored worse on immediate face recognition compared to term infants. However, after adjusting for birth weight, prematurity was not associated with worse outcomes. Independent of gestational age, outcomes of low birth weight children were worse than those of appropriate birth weight children, for immediate face recognition (odds ratio [OR], 5.14; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.32-21.74) and for face memory (OR, 4.48; 95% CI, 1.14-16.95).


CONCLUSIONS
Being born small for gestational age is associated with suboptimal face recognition skills, even in children without major neurodevelopmental problems.
Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Aragón (ISS Aragón), Avenida San Juan Bosco 13, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain; Ophthalmology Department, Hospital Universitario Miguel Servet, Paseo Isabel la Católica 1-3, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain.
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Perez-Roche
Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Aragón (ISS Aragón), Avenida San Juan Bosco 13, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain; Optical Optometrist, Hospital Universitario Miguel Servet, Paseo Isabel la Católica 1-3, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain.
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Altemir
Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Aragón (ISS Aragón), Avenida San Juan Bosco 13, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain; Optical Optometrist, Hospital Universitario Miguel Servet, Paseo Isabel la Católica 1-3, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain.
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Giménez
Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Aragón (ISS Aragón), Avenida San Juan Bosco 13, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain; Ophthalmology Department, Hospital Universitario Miguel Servet, Paseo Isabel la Católica 1-3, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain.
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Prieto
Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Aragón (ISS Aragón), Avenida San Juan Bosco 13, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain; Ophthalmology Department, Hospital Universitario Miguel Servet, Paseo Isabel la Católica 1-3, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain.
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González
Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Aragón (ISS Aragón), Avenida San Juan Bosco 13, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain; Child Neurology Unit, Hospital Universitario Miguel Servet, Paseo Isabel la Católica 1-3, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain.
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López Pisón
Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Aragón (ISS Aragón), Avenida San Juan Bosco 13, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain; Ophthalmology Department, Hospital Universitario Miguel Servet, Paseo Isabel la Católica 1-3, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain. Electronic address: vpueyo@unizar.es.
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Pueyo
D001724:Birth Weight; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D000066499:Facial Recognition / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007230:Infant, Low Birth Weight; D007234:Infant, Premature; D007236:Infant, Small for Gestational Age; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D020238:Prosopagnosia / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors
Face recognition; Preterm infants; Small for gestational age; Visual cognitive functions; Visual development