Influence of Maternal Graduation on the Cognitive Development of Very Low-Birth-Weight Infants

Abstract

Background: Very low-birth-weight infants with birth weight less than 1,500 g have an increased risk for a worse neurocognitive outcome. Early therapeutic intervention can reduce the level of developmental disorder. To detect the infants with the need of early support it is important to define risk factors affecting the development beside birth weight. Method: During the years 2009 to 2013, a total of 209 very low-birth-weight infants were treated in our neonatal intensive care unit level 1, of which 187 survived. With standardized questionnaire the maternal graduation was asked. At the corrected age of 24 months, we performed a follow-up examination with the Bayley Scales of Infant Development II to the families. The collected data were analyzed with Excel and the statistical program GraphPad Prism (version 4.0). Results: Eleven percent of the parents gave no information about the maternal graduation, 9% of the mothers did not have any school degree, 16% had a certificate of lower German secondary education, 25% had a certificate of middle secondary education, 8% had higher German secondary education, and 31% had a final German secondary-school examination. One hundred fifty (80%) of the surviving infants had participated the follow-up examination. Both participation of the follow-up examination and MDI (mental developmental index) were depending on the maternal graduation. Conclusion: Very low-birth-weight infants of women with low socioeconomic status rarely take part in follow-up examinations and have a worse neurocognitive outcome. In our region (Ruhrgebiet) the part of mothers without or with low school graduation is higher than in other regions of Germany. It is important to register the maternal graduation to detect families with the need of follow-up examinations and early interventions.