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Health-related quality of life at age 10 years in children born extremely preterm

Journal of Perinatology (2024)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Objective

To evaluate the association between prenatal maternal health and socioeconomic status (SES) and health-related quality of life (QoL) among 10-year-old children born extremely preterm.

Design/ methods

Retrospective analysis of the Extremely Low Gestational Age Newborns (ELGAN) Study cohort of infants born < 28 weeks gestational age. QoL was assessed at 10 years of age using the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory. Multivariate regression models were used for analyses.

Results

Of 1198 participants who survived until 10 years of age, 889 (72.2%) were evaluated. Lower maternal age, lack of college education; receipt of public insurance and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) were associated with lower QoL scores. Specific maternal health factors were also associated with lower child QoL scores.

Conclusions

Specific, potentially modifiable, maternal health and social factors are associated with lower scores on a measure of parent-reported child QoL across multiple domains for children born extremely preterm.

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Data availability

The dataset used for this study is not publicly available as it contains some identifiable information, but is available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

Dr. Msall’s efforts were also supported in part by funding from The Health Resources and Services Administration of the US Department of Health and Human Services (UA6MC32492), the Life Course Intervention Research Network. Preterm Research Node: Engaging Families of Preterm Babies to Optimize Thriving and Well-Being.

Funding

This study was supported by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (grants 5U01NS040069-05 and 2R01NS040069-09) and the Office of the Director of the National Institutes of Health (1UG3OD023348-01). Dr. Frazier has had research support from Healx, Quadrant, and Tetra Pharmaceuticals. All other authors have no financial relationships or any other conflicts of interest relevant to this article to disclose.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA

    Catherine Call & Rachana Singh

  2. Department of Environmental Sciences & Engineering, Gillings School of Public Health, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Ali Oran & Rebecca C. Fry

  3. Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    T. Michael O’Shea

  4. Department of Epidemiology and Prevention, Department of Internal Medicine, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, USA

    Elizabeth T. Jensen

  5. Department of Psychiatry and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver Center, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA

    Jean A. Frazier, Sohye Kim & Isha Jalnapurkar

  6. Department of Pediatrics, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School – Baystate, Springfield, MA, USA

    Ruben Vaidya

  7. Department of Pediatrics, Connecticut Children’s Hospital, Hartford, CT, USA

    Jeffrey Shenberger

  8. Department of Pediatrics, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, USA

    Semsa Gogcu

  9. Kennedy Research Center on Intellectual and Neurodevelopmental Disabilities University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Michael E. Msall

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  1. Catherine Call
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Contributions

CC, TMO and RS drafted the original manuscript and conceived and designed the study, contributed to data acquisition and analysis, and finalized the manuscript. AO contributed to data analysis; critically reviewed and revised the manuscript for intellectual content. ETJ, JAF, RV, JS, SG, MEM, SK, IJ and RCF contributed to data acquisition and analysis; critically reviewed and revised the manuscript for important intellectual content. All authors approved the final manuscript as submitted and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rachana Singh.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Call, C., Oran, A., O’Shea, T.M. et al. Health-related quality of life at age 10 years in children born extremely preterm. J Perinatol (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41372-024-01987-3

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