Psychomotor development of preterm infants aged 6 to 12 months

Cognitive assessment in preterms by Bayley-III: development in the first year and associated factors

OBJECTIVE

To analyze the cognitive development of preterm infants at six and 12 months of corrected age and the associations with perinatal and socioeconomic factors.

METHODS

Cognitive development of 40 infants (20 preterm and 20 full-term) at six and 12 months of age was evaluated using the Bayley-III scale. Correlations between cognitive outcome and associated factors were assessed using Spearman correlation. Stepwise multiple linear regression analysis with covariance was applied to identify changes on cognitive score between six and 12 months.

RESULTS

Bayley-III cognitive score in preterm group was significantly lower than in full-term group at both six and 12 months of age. Birth weight correlated with cognitive performance at six months and head circumference at birth at 12 months, in full-terms infants. The occurrence of necrotizing enterocolitis was inversely associated with cognitive score in preterms at 12 months. An increase in cognitive score was observed between six and 12 months in both groups, but the gain was more pronounced in preterms.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings suggest some cognitive recovery capacity in the first year despite the restrictions imposed by premature birth and emphasize the importance of early interventions in this population.

Uso da Escala de Avaliação do Desenvolvimento Infantil Bayley III em Crianças Brasileiras: Revisão Sistemática

Resumo O objetivo deste estudo foi realizar uma revisão sistemática de pesquisas com a Escala Bayley-III em crianças brasileiras. Foram seguidas as recomendações PRISMA, com buscas nas bases MEDLINE, LILACS, SCIELO, Scopus, PUBMED e Web of Science. A revisão incluiu artigos publicados nos idiomas português e inglês entre 2006 e 2018. Foram encontrados 856 estudos e, após análise do título e resumo, selecionaram-se 24. Os estudos avaliaram o desenvolvimento de crianças prematuras, típicas, frequentadoras de creche, e atípicas,sendo a maioria residente na região Sudeste e com até 12 meses de idade. A literatura apontou a prevalência de fatores de risco e altos percentuais de suspeitas e atrasos do desenvolvimento neuropsicomotor entre as crianças brasileiras avaliadas.

Neuropsychomotor development in children born preterm at 6 and 12 months of corrected gestational age

Objective:

To assess the incidence of neuropsychomotor developmental delay at 6 and 12 months of corrected gestational age in children born at 32 gestational weeks or less.

Methods:

A descriptive and prospective study was carried out at two public maternity hospitals. Between April 2017 and January 2019, we assessed 133 children without any known risk factors for neuropsychomotor developmental delay. The Bayley III scale was used to evaluate cognitive and motor development. The p value of the numerical variables was calculated using the Mann-Whitney test, whereas proportions of categorical variables were compared using the Z-test.

Results:

The mean maternal age was 26±6.9 years,78.8% were from middle and lower economic classes, and 57.1% of the analyzed children were female. Children presented with a higher incidence of delay at 12 months than at 6 months (10.3 and 2.3% at 12 and 6 months, respectively, for the cognitive score; 22.7 and 12% at 12 and 6 months, respectively, for the composite motor score; and 24.7 and 8.4% at 12 and 6 months, respectively, for the fine motor score).

Conclusions:

Cognitive and motor developmental delays were significant, with the highest incidence at 12 months. The results of this study encourage further research on this topic, since the exclusion criteria were comprehensive and the delays in neuropsychomotor development were significant.

Influence of perinatal complications on the development of a sample of 36-month-old premature infants

OBJECTIVE

The lack of clear results in previous studies for this context makes us consider an exploratory study. The objective of this research is to examine the influence of certain perinatal factors on the development of premature infants over their first 36 months of life.

METHOD

The sample consisted of 59 preterm infants born between 25 and 34 weeks of gestational age in an NICU of a third-level hospital. At 36 months of age, the Bayley-III Infant Development Scale (Spanish adaptation) and a clinical history were collected.

RESULTS

The average scores on the Bayley-III Infant Development Scale were generally within the normal range, but significantly lower than normal for Fine Motor Function, Gross Motor Function, and Expressive Language. These differences remained when considering the degree of prematurity, gender, and perinatal complications. Infants who received mechanical ventilation, oxygen therapy or corticosteroid treatment due to bronchopulmonary dysplasia showed the greatest discrepancies from normal levels.

CONCLUSION

Our results support prior studies that show that a combination of perinatal risk factors constitutes the largest determinant for developmental issues at 36 months of age. This information establishes the need for a priority follow-up in this population beyond 24 months of corrected age.

Is sensory processing associated with prematurity, motor and cognitive development at 12 months of age?

BACKGROUND

Prematurity may be a risk factor for sensory processing difficulties. Limited research has investigated sensory processing in preterm infants in their first year of life, when sensory processing dysfunctions are more subtle and difficult to detect.

AIMS

The aims of this study were to investigate the association between prematurity and sensory processing and the associations between sensory processing and motor and cognitive development in infants at 12 months of age.

STUDY DESIGN

Cross-sectional study.

SUBJECTS

45 infants allocated in two groups: control (37-41 weeks' gestation) and preterm (<34 weeks' gestation).

OUTCOME MEASURES

Sensory processing was assessed with the Test of Sensory Functions in Infants (TSFI). Motor and cognitive development was assessed with the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, Third Edition (Bayley-III).

RESULTS

Preterm group was associated with significant decrease in TSFI's total (p < 0.01), reactivity to deep tactile pressure (p = 0.02) and vestibular stimulation reactivity (p = 0.03) scores. Bayley-III motor score was positive associated with TFSI score on ocular-motor control domain (p = 0.03). Bayley-III cognitive score and TSFI scores were not significantly associated.

CONCLUSIONS

Prematurity negatively interferes with sensory processing, especially in tactile and vestibular domains, and better sensory processing in ocular-motor control contributes to better motor performance at 12 months of age. It is important to consider sensory processing in early developmental evaluation and interventions to promote better developmental outcomes in preterm infants.

Infant Development at the Age of 6 Months in Relation to Feeding Practices, Iron Status, and Growth in a Peri-Urban Community of South Africa

Background: Evidence on the association between feeding practices, iron deficiency, anaemia, stunting, and impaired psychomotor development during infancy is limited. This study assessed the association between psychomotor development with early feeding practices, growth, iron status, and anaemia. Methods: This was cross-sectional baseline data of a randomised controlled trial which included 6-month-old infants and their mothers or primary caregivers (n = 750) in a peri-urban community in the North West province of South Africa. The Kilifi Developmental Inventory and a parent rating scale were used to assess psychomotor development. Feeding practices and anthropometric measurements were based on the World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines. Anaemia and iron status were determined by blood sample analysis. Results: Prevalence of anaemia and stunting for the infants were 36.4% and 28.5%, respectively. Multiple regression analysis showed that birth weight was related to combined psychomotor scores (β = −3.427 (−4.603, 1.891), p < 0.001), as well as parent rating scores (β = −0.843 (−1.507, −0.180), p = 0.013). Length-for-age z-scores were associated with combined psychomotor scores (β = −1.419 (−2.466, 0.373), p = 0.008), as well as parent rating scores (β = −0.747 (−1.483, −0.010), p = 0.047). Conclusions: In this setting, with high prevalence of anaemia and stunting, important associations between lower psychomotor development scores and birthweight as well as length-for-age z-scores in 6-month-old infants were found. These findings warrant further investigation to develop a greater understanding of factors influencing the association between child growth and psychomotor development within the first 1000 days of life.

The Effect of a Social-Emotional Intervention on the Development of Preterm Infants in Institutions

This study examined the effect of a social-emotional intervention implemented in one St. Petersburg (Russian Federation) institution (called a Baby Home, BH) on the general behavioral development of preterm children (gestational ages of 30-36 weeks) during their first two years of life. The intervention consisted of training caregivers and implementing structural changes to create a more family-like environment. The study included preterm (N = 56) and full-term (N = 93) children from one BH that implemented the intervention and from another BH with no intervention. Children were assessed at 3, 6, 9, 12, 18 and 24 months of age with the Battelle Development Inventory (LINC Associates, 1988). The results showed that the intervention positively influenced the general behavioral development of BH preterm children throughout their first two years of life compared to preterms from the no-intervention BH. Also, results indicated that the intervention effect was developmentally similar for preterm and for full-term children, but preterm children consistently scored lower than full-terms during their first two years living in the BH. In general, our research emphasizes the crucial role of warm, sensitive, and responsive interactions with a constant and emotionally available caregiver for healthy child development for both term and preterm children.

Effects of prematurity on language acquisition and auditory maturation: a systematic review

Purpose

To verify which damages prematurity causes to hearing and language.

Research strategies

We used the decriptors language/linguagem, hearing/audição, prematurity/prematuridade in databases LILACS, MEDLINE, Cochrane Library and Scielo.

Selection criteria

randomized controlled trials, non-randomized intervention studies and descriptive studies (cross-sectional, cohort, case-control projects).

Data analysis

The articles were assessed independently by two authors according to the selection criteria. Twenty-six studies were selected, of which seven were published in Brazil and 19 in international literature.

Results

Nineteen studies comparing full-term and preterm infants. Two of the studies made comparisons between premature infants small for gestational age and appropriate for gestational age. In four studies, the sample consisted of children with extreme prematurity, while other studies have been conducted in children with severe and moderate prematurity. To assess hearing, these studies used otoacoustic emissions, brainstem evoked potentials, tympanometry, auditory steady-state response and visual reinforcement audiometry. For language assessment, most of the articles used the Bayley Scale of Infant and Toddler Development. Most studies reviewed observed that prematurity is directly or indirectly related to the acquisition of auditory and language abilities early in life.

Conclusion

Thus, it could be seen that prematurity, as well as aspects related to it (gestational age, low weight at birth and complications at birth), affect maturation of the central auditory pathway and may cause negative effects on language acquisition.

Relação entre as habilidades auditivas no primeiro ano de vida e o diagnóstico de linguagem em prematuros

RESUMO Objetivo: verificar se há relação entre as habilidades auditivas no primeiro ano de vida e o diagnóstico de linguagem entre os 2 e 4 anos de idade em crianças nascidas pré-termo com peso abaixo de 2000 gramas. Métodos: foram selecionados um grupo de 54 crianças com emissões otoacústicas evocadas por estímulos transientes presentes nos primeiros três meses, com avaliação audiológica comportamental entre os 6 e 18 meses e avaliação de linguagem entre os 2 e 4 anos de idade. Resultados: não foram observadas diferenças estatisticamente significantes entre a ocorrência de reflexo cócleo palpebral e a habilidade de localização sonora entre 6 e 18 meses com resultado da avaliação de linguagem.Em relação à habilidade de reconhecimento de ordens verbais entre os 12 e 18 meses foi observada diferença estatisticamente significante.Crianças que apresentam reconhecimento de ordens verbais alterado entre 12 e 18 meses tem 12,25 vezes mais chances de apresentar linguagem alterada entre os 2 e 4 anos. Conclusão: existe uma relação entre o reconhecimento de ordens verbais alterado entre 12 e 18 meses e a alteração no resultado da avaliação de linguagem entre os 2 e 4 anos.

Growth and development and their environmental and biological determinants

OBJECTIVE

To investigate child growth, cognitive/language development, and their environmental and biological determinants.

METHODS

This was a cross-sectional, predictive correlation study with all 92 children aged 24-36 months who attended the municipal early childhood education network in a town in the Vale do Jequitinhonha region, in 2011. The socioeconomic profile was determined using the questionnaire of the Associação Brasileira de Empresas de Pesquisa. The socio-demographicand maternal and child health profiles were created through a self-prepared questionnaire. The height-for-age indicator was selected to represent growth. Cognitive/language development was assessed through the Bayley Scale of Infant and Toddler Development. The quality of educational environments was assessed by Infant/Toddler Environment Scale; the home environment was assessed by the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment. The neighborhood quality was determined by a self-prepared questionnaire. A multivariate linear regression analysis was performed.

RESULTS

Families were predominantly from socioeconomic class D, with low parental education. The prevalence of stunted growth was 14.1%; cognitive and language development were below average at 28.6% and 28.3%, respectively. Educational institutions were classified as inadequate, and 69.6% of homes were classified as presenting a risk for development. Factors such as access to parks and pharmacies and perceived security received the worst score regarding neighborhood environment. Biological variables showed a greater association with growth and environmental variables with development.

CONCLUSION

The results showed a high prevalence of stunting and below-average results for cognitive/language development among the participating children. Both environmental and biological factors were related to growth and development. However, biological variables showed a greater association with growth, whereas environmental variables were associated with development.

Association between gestational age and birth weight on the language development of Brazilian children: a systematic review

OBJECTIVE

To review the literature that addresses the relationship between prematurity, birth weight, and development of language in Brazilian children.

SOURCES

A systematic review of studies published between 2003 and 2012 in English and Portuguese and indexed in PubMed, LILACS, and SciELO. The following key words were used in the searches: Prematuro, Prematuridade, Linguagem, Prematurity, Language, Speech-Language Pathology. Fifty-seven articles were retrieved, 13 of which were included in the systematic review.

SUMMARY OF THE FINDINGS

The results showed an association between prematurity, low birth weight, and language development. In studies that made comparisons between preterm and term infants, there was evidence that preterm infants had poorer performance on indicators of language. It was also observed that children born with lower birth weight had a poorer performance on measures of language when compared to children with higher weight and closer to 37 weeks of gestational age. Regarding the type of language assessed, expression proved to be more impaired than reception. Higher parental education and family income were indicated as protective factors for the development of language. Conversely, lower birth weight and higher degree of prematurity emerged as risk factors.

CONCLUSIONS

Preterm birth and low birth weight poses risks for the language development of children, especially in the first years of life. Therefore, it is essential that pediatricians are aware of the language development of these children to ensure proper treatment.