Health-related quality of life may deteriorate from adolescence to young adulthood after extremely preterm birth.

Abstract

This study examined the development of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and health from adolescence to adulthood after extremely preterm birth. We assessed a population-based cohort of extremely preterm-born (EPB) infants (gestational age of ≤28weeks or birthweight of ≤1000grams) and term-born (TB) controls at 17 and 24years of age. They completed the Child Health Questionnaire-Child Form 87 at 17years of age, the Short Form Health Survey-36 (SF-36) at 24years of age and the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children-Symptom Checklist at both ages. Of the 51 eligible EPB subjects, 46 (90%) were included and nine had severe neurosensory disabilities. On the whole, EPB and TB subjects gave their HRQoL and health similar ratings, but EPB subjects with disabilities reported poorer physical functioning at 17 and EPB subjects without disabilities reported lower scores on three of the eight SF-36 scales for social functioning and mental health and reported more psychological health complaints at 24. Differences remained in adjusted analyses. Changes from 17 to 24years of age were minor in EPB subjects with disabilities. Our comparison of EPB and TB subjects at the ages of 17 and 24 indicated that psychosocial HRQoL may deteriorate for EPB subjects when they enter adulthood.