Babies who are born several weeks too soon are at increased risk for behavioural problems later in life compared with children who are born at the expected time. Health and demographic factors also appear to influence the risk of such problems. Infants born prematurely are at risk for a number of health problems in the first few weeks of life, such as lung collapse. However, there is growing evidence that the effects of pre-term birth may be long lasting. French researchers from the Research Unit on Perinatal Health and Women's Health studied 1,228 extremely pre-term infants and 447 full-term infants and assessed them 3 years later for behavioural difficulties using a questionnaire. The study focused on infants born very early, between just 22 and 32 weeks of gestation. It was found that twenty percent of very pre-term children and 9 percent of term children had behavioural problems. Brain abnormalities detected by ultrasound, hospitalisation within the last year, and poor health were risk factors for behavioural problems among the very pre-term children. Likewise, young maternal age and low maternal education also predicted such problems. Pre-term birth was significantly associated with overall behavioural difficulty, hyperactivity, conduct problems and peer problems. The above findings encourage the early detection of behavioural difficulties to reduce their consequences on the well-being and social adaptation of the children.
Pediatrics,
June 2006