Short-term neonatal and long-term neurodevelopmental outcome of children born term low birth weight

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the impact of term LBW on short-term neonatal and long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes in children 5-7 years of age. This is a population-based cohort study that merged national data from the Korea National Health Insurance claims and National Health Screening Program for Infants and Children. The participants were women who gave birth at a gestational age of ≥ 37 weeks between 2013 and 2015 in the Republic of Korea, and were tracked during 2020 for the neurodevelopmental surveillance of their children. Among 830,806 women who gave birth during the study period, 31,700 (3.8%) of their babies weighed less than 2500 g. By Cox proportional hazard analysis, children aged 5-7 years who had LBW were associated with any developmental, motor developmental delay, cognitive developmental delay, autism spectrum, attention deficit hyperactivity disorders, and epileptic and febrile seizures.Children born with term LBW were more vulnerable to neurodevelopmental disorders at 5-7 years of age than those with normal and large birth weights. This study further substantiates counseling parents regarding the long-term outcomes of children being born underweight.