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Neurobehavior in very preterm infants with low medical risk and full-term infants

Journal of Perinatology volume 42, pages 1400–1408 (2022)Cite this article

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A Correction to this article was published on 11 July 2022

This article has been updated

Abstract

Objective

To describe differences in neurobehavior among very preterm infants with low medical risk at term equivalent age and full-term infants.

Study design

One-hundred eighty-six (136 infants born ≤32 weeks gestation with low medical risk at term equivalent age and 50 full-term infants within 4 days of birth) had standardized neurobehavioral assessments. Low medical risk was defined by ventilation <10 days and absence of significant brain injury, necrotizing enterocolitis, patent ductus arteriosus, and retinopathy of prematurity.

Results

Very preterm infants with low medical risk at term equivalent age demonstrated more sub-optimal reflexes (p < 0.001; ß = 1.53) and more stress (p < 0.001; ß = 0.08) on the NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale compared to their full-term counterparts. Very preterm infants with low medical risk also performed worse on the Hammersmith Neonatal Neurological Examination (p = 0.005; ß = −3.4).

Conclusion

Very preterm infants at term equivalent age continue to demonstrate less optimal neurobehavior compared to full-term infants.

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Fig. 1: Flow diagram of enrolled and excluded infants.
Fig. 2: Scatterplot of HNNE scores across infants born at different EGA.
Fig. 3: Scatterplot of NNNS scores across infants born at different EGA.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Zachary Vesoulis, Amit Mathur, Jeffrey Neil, Jessica Roussin, Sarah Oberle, Molly Grabill, Maggie Meether, Danielle Prince, Polly Kellner, Marinthea Richter, Bethany Gruskin, and Delaney Smith.

Funding

This work was supported by the National Institute of Health ROI HD 057098 and Comprehensive Opportunities for Rehabilitation Research Training (K12 HD055931), Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (U54 HD087011) to the Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center at Washington University (NIH/ NICHD P30 HD062171), the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Washington University Institute of Clinical and Translational Sciences Clinical and Translational Funding Program (National Institutes of Health/National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences UL1 TR000448), and the National Institute of Health R24 (5R24HD065688‐05) awarded to the Boston Rehabilitation Outcomes Center.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Program in Occupational Therapy, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA

    Roberta Pineda, Lara Liszka, Pido Tran & Jenny Kwon

  2. Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Roberta Pineda & Jenny Kwon

  3. Department of Pediatrics, Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Roberta Pineda

  4. Gehr Family Center for Health Systems Science and Innovation, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Roberta Pineda

  5. Center for the Changing Family, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Roberta Pineda

  6. Department of Physical and Occupational Therapy, Duke University Health System, Durham, NC, USA

    Lara Liszka

  7. Department of Pediatric Newborn Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Terrie Inder

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All of the authors are responsible for the reported research. All of the authors have participated in the concept and design, analysis and interpretation of data, drafting or revision of the paper, and they have approved the paper as submitted.

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Correspondence to Roberta Pineda.

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Pineda, R., Liszka, L., Tran, P. et al. Neurobehavior in very preterm infants with low medical risk and full-term infants. J Perinatol 42, 1400–1408 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41372-022-01432-3

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