Looking back in time: outcome of a national cohort of very preterm infantsborn in The Netherlands in 1983

In 1983, Dutch pediatricians collaborated on a national level and collected perinatal data on 1338 liveborn infants with a gestational age <32 weeks a nd/or a birthweight <1500 g (project on preterm and small for gestational a ge infants, POPS). Their outcome was assessed at 2 years of age by their pe diatricians, at 5 years by a team of investigators, and at 9-14 years by qu estionnaires completed by parents, teachers, and children themselves. The o verall picture that emerges from this 14-year follow-up is that a low perce ntage of these very preterm infants (10%) has a severe disability or handic ap at school age. Although 90% of the children are without severe disabilit ies at school age, many of them meet serious difficulties in everyday life and the burden of mild developmental abnormalities, behavioral and learning disorders increases with age. In adolescents, it is likely that as many as 40% of the survivors will not be able to become fully independent adults. Abnormalities found during early, standardized clinical neurological examin ation are highly predictive for these later problems. (C) 2000 Elsevier Sci ence Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.