Prospective study of New Zealand very low birthweight infants: Outcome at 7-8 years

• Published in: Journal of paediatrics and child health 1997-02, Vol.33 (1), p.47-51
• Main Authors: DARLOW, BA, HORWOOD, LJ, MOGRIDGE, N, CLEMETT, RS
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anesthesia. Intensive care medicine. Transfusions. Cell therapy and gene therapy; Biological and medical sciences; Blindness - etiology; cerebral palsy; Child; Cohort Studies; Disabled Persons; Emergency and intensive care: neonates and children. Prematurity. Sudden death; Follow-Up Studies; Hearing Loss, Sensorineural - etiology; Humans; Infant, Newborn; Infant, Premature; Infant, Very Low Birth Weight; Intelligence; Intensive care medicine; Medical sciences; New Zealand; New Zealand - epidemiology; Outcomes; Prospective Studies; Retinopathy of Prematurity - complications; sensorineural disability; Sudden Infant Death; sudden infant death syndrome; Survival Rate; Very low birth weight babies; very low birthweight infants; Wechsler Scales
• ISSN: 1034-4810; 1440-1754
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1440-1754.1997.tb00990.x

Objective: To determine the survival and sensorineural outcome at 7–8 years in very low birthweight (VLBW) infants born in New Zealand in 1986. Methodology: In 1986 all VLBW New Zealand infants admitted to neonatal units were enrolled in a prospective study of acute retinopathy of prematurity. Surviving infants were traced and were assessed at a home visit. Parents were asked a comprehensive questionnaire, and children underwent a visual assessment including photorefraction and were tested with the Revised Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC‐R). Results: Four hundred and thirteen VLBW infants were admitted to neonatal units in 1986, 338 (81.8%) surviving to discharge. 12 children died after discharge, 17 were traced to overseas, seven declined to participate and four were untraced, leaving 298 (96% survivors resident in New Zealand) who were assessed at a mean age of 7.6 (± 0.4 years. 15 children (5.0%) had severe disability, 14 (4.7%) moderate disability, and 46 (15.4%) mild disability. Blindness (vision worse than 6/60) occurred in eight children (2.7%), deafness requiring aids in four (1.3%), any form of cerebral palsy in 17 (5.7%), and an IQ score on the WISC‐R>1 SD below the mean in 62 (20.8%). There was no significant difference in outcome for children with birthweight