PSYCHOLOGICAL AND EDUCATIONAL SEQUELAE OF PREMATURITY

[摘要] Psychological and educational correlates of prematurity were assessed in a prospective longitudinal study of 241 infants classified by birth weight, gestational age, and sex. Eighty per cent of the 78 low birth weight (LBW) infants weighed between 2,001 and 2,500 gm; three weighed less than 1,500 gm.It was found that (1) LBW was associated with a number of indicators of abnormal conditions during the neonatal period; (2) birth weight rather than gestational age was the major correlate of psychological and educational impairment; (3) LBW males and small-for-date (SFD) subjects of both sexes had a significantly higher incidence of school problems warranting special school placement and special school services than did full birth weight (FBW) full-term control subjects; (4) LBW subjects scored lower than FBW subjects on all measures of mental development, language development, school readiness, and academic achievement through 7 years of age; (5) while there were no sex differences among LBW subjects on objective measures of psychological development and academic achievement, males had a higher incidence of school identified problems than did females; and (6) LBW and preterm infants did not differ significantly from control subjects on socioeconomic status.It was concluded that low birth weight preterm males and small-for-date subjects of both sexes constitute a "high risk" population in terms of eventual impairment of school functioning.

[学科分类] 儿科学