Speech and language skills in children who required neonatal intensive care: evaluation at 6.5 y of age based on interviews with parents

Speech and language skills at 6.5 y of age were studied in a follow-up of a cohort of children who had required neonatal intensive care (NIC) at Uppsa la University Children's Hospital. An interview with the parents indicated that preterm and full-term NIC children were older than control children wh en they reached certain stages in language development (short sentences, in telligible speech). Absence of babbling was more common in NIC children bor n at 23-27 wk than in other preterm NIC children, and occurrence of stutter ing was more commonly noticed in preterm NIC children born at 23-27 wk than in those burn at greater than or equal to 32 wk and controls.