Term infants with fetal growth restriction are not at increased risk for low intelligence scores at age 17 years

Objective: To assess the long-term cognitive outcome of small for gestation al age (SGA) compared with appropriate for gestational age (AGA) infants. Design: Data from the Jerusalem Perinatal Study was matched with informatio n from the army draft medical board. SGA and severe SGA were defined as bir th weight below the 10th and 3rd percentiles for gestational age, respectiv ely. A multiple linear regression analysis was performed to control for cli nical, perinatal, and socio-demographic confounding variables. Subjects: A cohort of 13,454 consecutive singleton term infants born betwee n 1974 and 1976. Main outcome measure: IQ at age 17 years. Results: SGA infants had lower adjusted mean +/- SE IQ scores compared with their AGA peers: 102.2 +/- 0.9 versus 105.1 +/- 0.7 (P < .0001) for males and 102.5 +/- 0.9 versus 103.9 +/- 0.7 (P < .015) for females. SGA was not associated with lower academic achievements compared with AGA. Conclusion: After controlling for multiple confounders, being born SGA at t erm is associated with slightly lower intelligence test scores at age 17 ye ars. However, the clinical significance of the small difference is not evid ent in academic achievements.