Very preterm children who do not cooperate with assessments at three years of age: skill differences at five years

J Dev Behav Pediatr. 2000 Apr;21(2):107-13. doi: 10.1097/00004703-200004000-00004.

Abstract

This study examined skill differences at 5 years of age for very preterm children who were or were not cooperative with developmental testing at 3 years of age. All children born between 1986 and 1991 who were less than 30 weeks of gestation were followed prospectively. Two hundred one children were seen at both the 3- and 5-year assessments. Of the 201 children, 24 (11.9%) who had been uncooperative in the assessment at 3 years were seen at 5 years. Uncooperative children were matched to a group of cooperative children for sex, gestation, and/or birth weight. Nonparametric analyses revealed that scores on the Binet Pattern Analysis (p < .01) and the Bead Memory (p < .01) subtests were significantly different between the groups. The uncooperative children scored significantly more often in the at-risk range for tests of minor neurological dysfunction (MND; p < .01) compared with cooperative matched controls. The authors speculate that in very preterm children, uncooperative behavior shown at 3 years of age associated with poor visual/spatial skills and a high level of MND at 5 years of age may reveal children at risk for the development of nonverbal learning disabilities.

MeSH terms

  • Age Factors
  • Case-Control Studies
  • Chi-Square Distribution
  • Child, Preschool
  • Cooperative Behavior*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Infant, Newborn
  • Infant, Premature / psychology*
  • Infant, Very Low Birth Weight / psychology*
  • Intelligence*
  • Learning Disabilities / psychology*
  • Male
  • Predictive Value of Tests
  • Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
  • Psychomotor Performance
  • Statistics, Nonparametric