Background. - Major handicaps are closely related to perinatal events.
However, relationship of these events with other moderate disabilitie
s such as school problems are still unclear. Population and methods. -
A representative sample of 1,408 children at school age and born in L
orraine in 1984 was studied. Two hundred and fifty children with probl
ems were compared with 602 controls without school problems, using a m
ultivariate analysis. Results. - The incidence of school difficulties
among 6-year old children (in the last year of nursery school) is 17.8
%. Children are at higher risk of school problems if their parents are
not (odds ratio [OR] = 7.9) or are poor school graduate (OR = 2.7), i
f they are boys (OR = 2.0), if they are born at the end of the year (O
R = 1.1) and also if they are preterm (OR = 2.7) or small for gestatio
nal age (OR = 2.5). Preterm delivery and intra-uterine growth retardat
ion accounted for 9.6% of school difficulties. Conclusion. - The relat
ionship between perinatal events and school difficulties warrants to c
ontinue with prevention during pregnancy, especially among groups with
multiple risk factors.