Early childhood parent-reported speech problems in small and large for gestational age term-born and preterm-born infants: a cohort study

• Published in: BMJ open Vol. 13; no. 4; p. e065587
• Main Authors: Jee, Gabrielle, Kotecha, Sarah Joanne, Chakraborty, Mallinath, Kotecha, Sailesh, Odd, David
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England British Medical Journal Publishing Group 27.04.2023; BMJ Publishing Group LTD; BMJ Publishing Group
• Series: Original research
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Birth Weight; Child; Child, Preschool; Children & youth; Cohort analysis; Cohort Studies; developmental neurology & neurodisability; Female; Fetal Growth Retardation; Gestational Age; Humans; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Infant, Newborn, Diseases; Infant, Premature; Infant, Small for Gestational Age; Middle Aged; Missing data; Mortality; Multiple births; neonatal intensive & critical care; neonatology; Newborn babies; Paediatrics; Parents; Population; Premature babies; Premature birth; Questionnaires; Regression analysis; Socioeconomic factors; Speech; Trends; Young Adult; United Kingdom > UK; England; Wales; neonatal intensive & critical care; developmental neurology & neurodisability; neonatology
• ISSN: 2044-6055; 2044-6055
• DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-065587

Objective(1) To assess if preterm and term small for gestational age (SGA) or large for gestational age (LGA) infants have more parent-reported speech problems in early childhood compared with infants with birth weights appropriate for gestational age (AGA). (2) To assess if preterm and term SGA and LGA infants have more parent-reported learning, behavioural, hearing, movement and hand problems in early childhood compared with AGA infants.DesignCohort study.SettingWales, UK.Participants7004 children with neurodevelopmental outcomes from the Respiratory and Neurological Outcomes of Children Born Preterm Study which enrolled 7129 children, born from 23 weeks of gestation onwards, to mothers aged 18–50 years of age were included in the analysis.Outcome measuresParent-reported single-answer questionnaires were completed in 2013 to assess early childhood neurodevelopmental outcomes. The primary outcome was parent-reported speech problems in early childhood adjusted for clinical and demographic confounders in SGA and LGA infants compared with AGA infants. Secondary outcomes measured were parent-reported early childhood learning, behavioural, hearing, movement and hand problems.ResultsMedian age at the time of study was 5 years, range 2–10 years. Although the adjusted OR was 1.19 (0.92 to 1.55) for SGA infants and OR 1.11 (0.88 to 1.41) for LGA infants, this failed to reach statistical significance that these subgroups were more likely to have parent-reported speech problems in early childhood compared with AGA infants. This study also found parent-reported evidence suggestive of potential learning difficulties in early childhood (OR 1.51 (1.13 to 2.02)) and behavioural problems (OR 1.35 (1.01 to 1.79)) in SGA infants.ConclusionThis study of 7004 infants in Wales suggests that infants born SGA or LGA likely do not have higher risks of parent-reported speech problems in early childhood compared with infants born AGA. To further ascertain this finding, studies with wider population coverage and longer-term follow-up would be needed.