Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed 1999;81:F5-F9 ( July )

Longitudinal study of behaviour disorders in low birthweight infants

C J Stevenson, P Blackburn, P O D Pharoah

Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths Unit of Perinatal and Paediatric Epidemiology Department of Public Health University of Liverpool Liverpool L69 3GB

Correspondence to: Emeritus Professor P O D Pharoah.

Accepted 9 December 1998

AIMTo compare the prevalence of childhood and adolescent behavioural problems in low birthweight infants with matched controls.
METHODSA cohort study of a geographically defined population of survivors of 1500 g birthweight born in 1980 and 1981 and age, sex, and school matched controls was undertaken. Children with a clinical disability were excluded. Data from Rutter questionnaires, completed by parents and teachers when the children were aged 8 and again at age 14 years, were assessed.
RESULTSFrom an initial 40 321 births in 1980-81 there were 399 of birthweight 1500 g, of whom 219 survived to age 8. After exclusion of the 42 children with clinical disability, 177 cases comprised the sample. Of these, 10 (6%) refused or could not be contacted, leaving 167 cases for each of whom a matched control was obtained. At age 14 years, both parent and teacher questionnaires showed an increased prevalence of behavioural problems in cases compared with controls. The presence of a pervasive behavioural problem, when the responses of parents and teachers were concordant, was present in 9% of cases and 3% of controls. There were 132 pairs where the cases and controls were the same at ages 8 and 14 years and provided longitudinal data. The parental questionnaire showed there was a significant decrease in the prevalence of behavioural problems for cases and controls between the ages of 8 and 14 years. There was almost no longitudinal change in the prevalence of behavioural problems as shown by the teacher questionnaires.
CONCLUSIONAlthough low birthweight infants are at increased risk of behavioural problems, because they comprise only a small proportion of all births, their population attributable risk for behavioural disorder is around 2-3%.


Keywords: behavioural problems; low birthweight; Rutter questionnaires

---

© 1999 by Archives of Disease in Childhood
CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Luu, T. M., Vohr, B. R., Schneider, K. C., Katz, K. H., Tucker, R., Allan, W. C., Ment, L. R. (2009). Trajectories of Receptive Language Development From 3 to 12 Years of Age for Very Preterm Children. Pediatrics 124: 333-341 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Farooqi, A., Hagglof, B., Sedin, G., Gothefors, L., Serenius, F. (2007). Mental Health and Social Competencies of 10- to 12-Year-Old Children Born at 23 to 25 Weeks of Gestation in the 1990s: A Swedish National Prospective Follow-up Study. Pediatrics 120: 118-133 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Dahl, L. B., Kaaresen, P. I., Tunby, J., Handegard, B. H., Kvernmo, S., Ronning, J. A. (2006). Emotional, Behavioral, Social, and Academic Outcomes in Adolescents Born With Very Low Birth Weight. Pediatrics 118: e449-e459 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Watts, J L, Saigal, S (2006). Outcome of extreme prematurity: as information increases so do the dilemmas.. Arch. Dis. Child. Fetal Neonatal Ed. 91: F221-F225 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Grunau, R. E., Whitfield, M. F., Fay, T. B. (2004). Psychosocial and Academic Characteristics of Extremely Low Birth Weight (<=800 g) Adolescents Who Are Free of Major Impairment Compared With Term-Born Control Subjects. Pediatrics 114: e725-e732 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Hack, M., Youngstrom, E. A., Cartar, L., Schluchter, M., Taylor, H. G., Flannery, D., Klein, N., Borawski, E. (2004). Behavioral Outcomes and Evidence of Psychopathology Among Very Low Birth Weight Infants at Age 20 Years. Pediatrics 114: 932-940 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Indredavik, M S, Vik, T, Heyerdahl, S, Kulseng, S, Fayers, P, Brubakk, A-M (2004). Psychiatric symptoms and disorders in adolescents with low birth weight. Arch. Dis. Child. Fetal Neonatal Ed. 89: F445-F450 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Saigal, S., Pinelli, J., Hoult, L., Kim, M. M., Boyle, M. (2003). Psychopathology and Social Competencies of Adolescents Who Were Extremely Low Birth Weight. Pediatrics 111: 969-975 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Dinesen, S J, Greisen, G (2001). Quality of life in young adults with very low birth weight. Arch. Dis. Child. Fetal Neonatal Ed. 85: F165-169 [Abstract] [Full Text]