Long-term cognitive outcome of very low birth-weight Saudi preterm infants at the corrected age of 24-36 months

Saudi Med J. 2018 Apr;39(4):368-372. doi: 10.15537/smj.2018.4.21989.

Abstract

To assess infants' cognitive function at the corrected age of 24-36 months, and to identify factors associated with adverse outcome and examine the correlation between Bayley Infants Neurodevelopmental Screener (BINS) score and Gesell Schedule of Child Development (GSCD). Methods: This retrospective study was performed on Saudi very low birth-weight (VLBW) infants born in King Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia between 1997 and 2014 by the use of BINS as screening test and GSCD as definitive test. Results: Of 561 enrolled infants, 367 (65.4%) continued to follow-up. Three-hundred and fifteen infants (85.6%) had a normal cognitive function. In addition to lower birth weight (beta = -0.003) (p less than 0.001), male gender (OR =3.9) (p=0.001)and cerebral palsy (OR =33.9) (p less than 0.001) were the strongest factors associated with poor cognitive outcome. Approximately 75.4% of infants with normal BINS score had normal cognitive function and 7.6% of total infants had sever cognitive impairment. Conclusion: The majority of VLBW infants in our center have normal cognitive function at the corrected age of 24-36 months. Male gender, lower birth weight, and cerebral palsy are major predictors of poor outcome. The BINS scores were correlated with GSCD as a valid predictor for future developmental outcome.

MeSH terms

  • Birth Weight
  • Cerebral Palsy / psychology
  • Child Development*
  • Child, Preschool
  • Cognition Disorders / etiology*
  • Cognition*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Infant, Premature / psychology*
  • Infant, Very Low Birth Weight / psychology*
  • Male
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Sex Factors
  • Time Factors