Mental health articles

Biological risk factors for premature infants The dramatic increase in survival of low-birthweight infants, especially the
ELBW, has been accompanied by a higher incidence of neuropsychiatric
disorders in this population (see Minde, 2000, for studies). Lorenz et al. (1998)
have suggested from their recent study in a population of ELBW infants, that
each 1 per cent increment in survival increased the population of children with
disabilities by 2 per cent.
Minde (2000) makes the point that although there has not been a similar
increment in developmental disorders in premature infants with a birthweight of more than 1000 grams, VLBW children on average still show a 5–7 point lower IQ than same age controls and 25 per cent exhibit significant abnormalities of
cognition and/or behaviour. This is probably a conservative figure for other
studies have found up to 40 per cent with behaviour difficulties.

Tags: infant