A LONG-TERM FOLLOW-UP STUDY OF SMALL PREMATURE INFANTS

Abstract

One hundred children, prematurely born, with birth or minimum weights of 1,000 gm or less, of 183 discharged alive from the Premature Nursery of The New York Hospital from 1940 through 1957, were examined between 1950 and 1962. Historical and social data and findings on physical and psychometric examinations were evaluated. With rare exceptions, physical health was good; only 3 patients had cerebral palsy; one of these and 4 others had convulsions, but in 2 of these the convulsive disorder appeared unrelated to prematurity. The children exhibited a tendency to catch up in height to normal standards for chronologic age, but often not until after 4 years of age. The incidence of eye defects was 59%; the most frequent were retrolental fibroplasia, strabismus, and myopia. Intelligence quotients determined in 99 of the prematurely born children showed a wide range (59 to 142); the average I.Q., 94.8, was significantly below the I.Q. of 106.9 found in 49 full-term sibling controls. These values were not appreciably altered by retesting, by adding more younger siblings, or by comparing premature with sibling on tests done at similar ages. Thirteen of the 99 prematurely born children had I.Q.'s below 80; among the 83 of similar birth weight but not available for examination, 32 were known to be mentally retarded and 6 of these were in institutions. The most important variable appeared to be the socioeconomic status; a significantly higher proportion of the premature children with I.Q.'s above 100 was found among families who had private medical care. An apparent advantage of white over nonwhite children was interpreted as secondary to socioeconomic level.