Journal Article

Outcomes in Young Adulthood for Very-Low-Birth-Weight Infants

Cartar, Lydia, Hack, Maureen, Borawski, Elaine, Flannery, Daniel J, Schluchter, Mark, Klein, Nancy

2002

Overview

Survivors of very low birth weight who were born during the early years of neonatal intensive care are now young adults. This study compared the level of education and other outcomes at 20 years of age among 242 very-low-birth-weight participants and 233 controls with normal birth weight. As compared with the controls, very-low-birth-weight participants had lower educational achievement and IQ scores and higher rates of subnormal height and chronic illness, including neurologic disorders. However, they reported lower rates of alcohol or illicit drug use than normal-birth-weight controls, and the men had lower rates of contact with the police. As compared with 233 controls, 242 very-low-birth-weight participants had lower educational achievement and IQ scores and higher rates of chronic illness. The introduction of neonatal intensive care in the 1960s resulted in substantial improvements in outcomes for very-low-birth-weight infants (those weighing less than 1500 g). By the 1970s, 80 to 90 percent of survivors were reported to be free of serious handicaps. 1 However, at school age, very-low-birth-weight children have poorer cognitive function and academic performance than normal-birth-weight controls. 2 – 5 Learning problems at school persist into adolescence and are apparent even in children who have normal intelligence and no neurologic impairment. 6 , 7 Before the era of neonatal intensive care, when few very-low-birth-weight infants survived, the majority of survivors were described as having . . .

• Publisher: Massachusetts Medical Society
• Subject: Adult / Age / Analysis of Variance / Anesthesia. Intensive care medicine. Transfusions. Cell therapy and gene therapy / Babies / Biological and medical sciences / Birth weight / Body Height / Case-Control Studies / Chronic Disease - epidemiology / Chronic illnesses / Crime - statistics & numerical data / Educational Status / Emergency and intensive care: techniques, logistics / Female / Humans / Infant, Newborn / Infant, Premature / Infant, Very Low Birth Weight / Intelligence / Intensive care / Intensive care medicine / Intensive care unit. Emergency transport systems. Emergency, hospital ward / Longitudinal Studies / Male / Medical sciences / Mothers / Nervous System Diseases - epidemiology / Regression Analysis / Respiratory distress syndrome / Risk-Taking / Sexual Behavior - statistics & numerical data / Socioeconomic Factors / Substance-Related Disorders - epidemiology