PERINATAL, SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC AND NEUROMOTO R DETERMINANTS OF COGNITIVE-DEVELOPMENT IN VLBW-CHILDREN AT PRESCHOOL AGE

Background and methods: To study perinatal, sociodemographic and neuro motor determinants of cognitive development of very low birthweight-ch ildren (VLBW) at preschool age, we assessed 331 (81%) of 408 longterm survivors of a regional three-year birth cohort (1983-86) from the are a of Hamburg, Germany, at the age of six years. Of these, 298 underwen t psychological evaluation with a battery of standardized tests in the cognitive domains of intelligence, visuomotor integration, language a nd memory skills. Results: In all these domains, more children (range 5-16%) than could be expected from standard values (2.3%) scored below -2 standard deviations below the age adjusted reference value means. Perinatal risk factors, sociodemographic variables and neuromotor deve lopmental scores at ages 2 and 6 were entered into logistic regression models for each test. Conclusions: The study showed a major influence of sociodemographic status and a minor importance of perinatal variab les for cognitive development of very low birthweight children. In add ition, cognitive abilities do not seem to be independent of neurologic al development.