TY - JOUR
T1 - Specific language difficulties and school achievement in children born at 25 Weeks of gestation or less
AU - Wolke, Dieter
AU - Samara, Muthanna
AU - Bracewell, Melanie
AU - Marlow, Neil
PY - 2008/2
Y1 - 2008/2
N2 - OBJECTIVE:
To determine whether language and educational problems are specific or due to general cognitive deficits in children born at 25 weeks' gestation or less.
STUDY DESIGN:
A national cohort study assessed 241 of 308 (78%) surviving children at a median age of 6 years, 4 months along with 160 of these children's classmates. Formal tests included standard cognitive, language, phonetic, and speech assessments. The children's school achievement was rated by classroom teachers.
RESULTS:
Mean cognitive scores for index children were 82 (standard deviation [SD] +/- 19) compared with 106 (SD +/- 12) for the peer group. Extremely preterm children had an increased risk of language problems (odds ratio [OR] = 10; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 3 to 32), speech problems (OR = 4.4; 95% CI = 3 to 7), and overall school difficulties (OR = 25; 95% CI = 12 to 54). Extremely preterm boys were twice as likely to show deficits as extremely preterm girls, but no such sex-based differences were apparent in the comparison group. Differences in general cognitive scores explained specific language or phonetic awareness deficits, but not speech ratings or educational difficulties, in the extremely preterm children.
CONCLUSIONS:
Language or phonetic difficulties are not specific and indicate general cognitive functional difficulties. The findings have implications for models of global deviation of brain development in extremely preterm children.
AB - OBJECTIVE:
To determine whether language and educational problems are specific or due to general cognitive deficits in children born at 25 weeks' gestation or less.
STUDY DESIGN:
A national cohort study assessed 241 of 308 (78%) surviving children at a median age of 6 years, 4 months along with 160 of these children's classmates. Formal tests included standard cognitive, language, phonetic, and speech assessments. The children's school achievement was rated by classroom teachers.
RESULTS:
Mean cognitive scores for index children were 82 (standard deviation [SD] +/- 19) compared with 106 (SD +/- 12) for the peer group. Extremely preterm children had an increased risk of language problems (odds ratio [OR] = 10; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 3 to 32), speech problems (OR = 4.4; 95% CI = 3 to 7), and overall school difficulties (OR = 25; 95% CI = 12 to 54). Extremely preterm boys were twice as likely to show deficits as extremely preterm girls, but no such sex-based differences were apparent in the comparison group. Differences in general cognitive scores explained specific language or phonetic awareness deficits, but not speech ratings or educational difficulties, in the extremely preterm children.
CONCLUSIONS:
Language or phonetic difficulties are not specific and indicate general cognitive functional difficulties. The findings have implications for models of global deviation of brain development in extremely preterm children.
KW - Psychology
UR - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18206699
U2 - 10.1016/j.jpeds.2007.06.043
DO - 10.1016/j.jpeds.2007.06.043
M3 - Article
C2 - 18206699
SN - 0022-3476
VL - 152
JO - The Journal of Pediatrics
JF - The Journal of Pediatrics
IS - 2
M1 - 256-262.e1
ER -