Adverse Neurodevelopmental Outcomes Up for Moderate, Late Preemies

TUESDAY, Jan. 30, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Children born moderately or late preterm have increased risks for adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes, including motor, cognitive, epileptic, visual, and hearing impairments, according to a study published online Jan. 24 in The BMJ.

Ayoub Mitha, M.D., Ph.D., from the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, and colleagues conducted a nationwide cohort study in Sweden involving 1,281,690 liveborn singleton children without congenital malformations born at 32+0 to 41+6 weeks to assess long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes, diagnosed up to age 16 years.

During a median follow-up of 13.1 years, 75,311 liveborn singleton infants without congenital malformations had at least one diagnosis of any neurodevelopmental impairment (47.8 per 10,000 person-years). The researchers found that children born moderately or late preterm showed higher risks for any impairment compared with those born full term (hazard ratios, 1.73 and 1.30, respectively), as well as higher risks for motor, cognitive, epileptic, visual, and hearing impairments. The highest risks for neurodevelopmental impairments were seen from 32 weeks and decreased gradually until 41 weeks; risks were higher at 37 to 38 weeks than 39 to 40 weeks. Most associations remained stable in the sibling analysis, which included 349,108 participants, apart from gestational age and epileptic and hearing impairments, where no association was observed. Compared with those born full term, the risk was only higher for cognitive impairment among children born early term.

"Our findings support that preventing moderately or late preterm delivery may have implications for public health, and that higher risks faced by these groups of children and their families should not be underestimated," the authors write.

One author disclosed ties to Neobiomics, which provides dietary supplement solutions for infants.

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