Preemies vary greatly in the amount of developmental problems they will face About 1 in 5 will develop at average or above-average levels On the other hand, about 40% will face long-term problems WEDNESDAY, Aug. 14, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Not all babies born prematurely will suffer long-term developmental problems, a new study finds. Preemies tend to fall into three risk categories, with about one in five (20%) scoring above average on standard cognitive tests, researchers reported Aug.
13 in the journal Child Development . A second profile representing 41% of preemies scored above normal on tests of memory, vocabulary and reading, but below average on tests of pattern recognition and working memory, researchers said. And a third profile representing nearly 40% of preemies scored below normal on all tests, suffering both cognitive and attention deficits.
“Our study dispels the notion that every preterm child is born with cognitive and behavioral deficits,” said lead researcher Iris Menu , a post-doctoral scholar of child and adolescent psychiatry with the NYU Grossman School of Medicine in New York City. About 13 million babies are born prematurely each year, and preterm birth has been linked to a higher risk of ADHD, problems with social development and lower grades, researchers said in background notes. But the tendency to lump preemies into a single group hinders efforts to tailor care for any one child, they added.
For the study, researchers analyzed cognitive and b.