title: [Early intellectual developmental outcome of late preterm infants].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the early intellectual developmental outcome of late preterm infants.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 106 late preterm infants with a gestational age of 34-36+6weeks who were admitted to the neonatal ward between January 2012 and January 2015, cured, discharged, and regularly followed up at the outpatient service for high-risk children were enrolled as the preterm group. A total of 120 healthy full-term infants during the same period were randomly selected as the term group. Neonatal behavioral neurological assessment (NBNA) was performed for late preterm infants at a corrected gestational age of 40 weeks and full-term infants at a gestational age of 40 weeks. The Gesell Developmental Scale was used for late preterm infants at a corrected age of 3, 6, and 12 months and full-term infants at an age of 3, 6, and 12 months.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The preterm group had an NBNA score of <37 and a significantly lower NBNA score than the term group (P<0.05). At the corrected age of 3 months, the preterm group had significantly lower scores of gross motor, fine motor, and social competence than the term group (P<0.05). At the corrected age of 6 months, the preterm group had significantly lower scores of adaptability, gross motor, and fine motor than the term group (P<0.05). At the corrected age of 12 months, the preterm group had significantly lower scores of adaptability, gross motor, and social competence than the term group (P<0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Late preterm infants have early intellectual developmental delay. It is necessary to perform neurodevelopmental monitoring for late preterm infants.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neonatology, Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510623, China. yansong84@126.com.
authors.forename: Teng-Wei
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Fa-Tao
authors.initials: FT
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Yan-Yan
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Lan-Xiu
authors.initials: LX
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Yue-Ju
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Cai
mesh_terms: D002657:Child Development; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature / Q000254:growth & development*; D007360:Intelligence; D008297:Male