Does the native language influence lexical composition in very preterm children at the age of two years? A cross-linguistic comparison study of Italian and Finnish children

This cross-linguistic study investigated whether the native language has any influence on lexical composition among Italian ( N = 125) and Finnish ( N = 116) very preterm (born at <32 gestational weeks) children at 24 months (controls: 125 Italian and 146 Finnish full-term children). The investigation also covered the effect of maternal education (ME) on lexical composition. The Italian/Finnish MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory was used for gathering the data. Although the lexicons of the preterm children were smaller than those of the controls, the native language had no major effect on their lexical composition. The ME had a significant effect on preterm children’s lexical composition, especially in the Finnish children. The findings indicate that lexical composition is not strongly affected by preterm birth. They also imply that lexical composition is a robust phenomenon that is connected to lexicon size and is not language-specific when analysed in broad terms, although some language-specific features were also detected.

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Multi-domain cognitive impairments at school age in very preterm-born children compared to term-born peers

BMC Pediatrics ◽

10.1186/s12887-021-02641-z ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Elise Roze ◽

Sijmen A. Reijneveld ◽

Roy E. Stewart ◽

Arend F. Bos

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Functions ◽

Verbal Memory ◽

Cognitive Impairments ◽

School Age ◽

Functional Impairments ◽

Visuomotor Integration ◽

Preterm Children ◽

Cognitive Domains ◽

Very Preterm ◽

Preterm Born

Abstract Background Preterm infants are at risk for functional impairments in motor, cognitive, and behavioral development that may persist into childhood. The aim of this study was to determine the co-occurrence of cognitive impairments in multiple cognitive domains at school age in very preterm born children compared to term-born children. Methods Comparative study including 60 very preterm-born children (gestational age ≤ 32 weeks) and 120 term-born controls. At school age, we assessed intelligence with the WISC-III, and visuomotor integration with the NEPSY-II, verbal memory with the AVLT, attention with the TEA-ch, and executive functioning with the BRIEF. We investigated co-occurrence of various abnormal (<5th percentile) and suspect-abnormal (<15th percentile, including both suspect and abnormal) cognitive functions. Results At mean age 8.8 years, 15% of preterm children had abnormal outcomes in multiple cognitive functions (≥2), versus 3% of the controls (odds ratio, OR 4.65, 95%-confidence interval, CI 1.33–16.35). For multiple suspect-abnormal cognitive outcomes, rates were 55% versus 25% (OR 3.02, 95%-CI 1.49–6.12). We found no pattern of co-occurrence of cognitive impairments among preterm children that deviated from term-born controls. However, low performance IQ was more frequently accompanied by additional cognitive impairments in preterms than in controls (OR 5.43, 95%-CI 1.75–16.81). Conclusions A majority of preterm children showed co-occurrence of impairments in multiple cognitive domains, but with no specific pattern of impairments. The occurrence of multi-domain cognitive impairments is higher in preterms but this seems to reflect a general increase, not one with a pattern specific for preterm-born children.

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Faculty Opinions recommendation of The stability of the diagnosis of developmental disability between ages 2 and 8 in a geographic cohort of very preterm children born in 1997.

Faculty Opinions – Post-Publication Peer Review of the Biomedical Literature ◽

10.3410/f.7681960.7996059 ◽

2011 ◽

Author(s):

Bob Phillips ◽

Giordano Perez-Gaxiola

Keyword(s):

Developmental Disability ◽

Preterm Children ◽

Very Preterm ◽

The Stability

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Prevalence of Language Delay among Healthy Preterm Children, Language Outcomes and Predictive Factors

Children ◽

10.3390/children8040282 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 (4) ◽

pp. 282

Author(s):

Miguel Pérez-Pereira

Keyword(s):

Gestational Age ◽

Language Impairment ◽

Maternal Education ◽

Longitudinal Design ◽

Age Groups ◽

Full Term ◽

Language Delay ◽

Preterm Children ◽

General Terms ◽

Extremely Preterm

Language delay (LD) and its relationship with later language impairment in preterm children is a topic of major concern. Previous studies comparing LD in preterm (PT) and full-term (FT) children were mainly carried out with samples of extremely preterm and very preterm children (sometimes with additional medical problems). Very few of them were longitudinal studies, which is essential to understand developmental relationships between LD and later language impairment. In this study, we compare the prevalence of LD in low-risk preterm children to that of FT children in a longitudinal design ranging from 10 to 60 months of age. We also analyze which variables are related to a higher risk of LD at 22, 30 and 60 months of age. Different language tests were administered to three groups of preterm children of different gestational ages and to one group of full-term children from the ages of 10 to 60 months. ANOVA comparisons between groups and logistic regression analyses to identify possible predictors of language delay at 22, 30 and 60 months of age were performed. The results found indicate that there were practically no differences between gestational age groups. Healthy PT children, therefore, do not have, in general terms, a higher risk of language delay than FT children. Previous language delay and cognitive delay are the strongest and longest-lasting predictors of later language impairment. Other factors, such as a scarce use of gestures at 10 months or male gender, affect early LD at 22 months of age, although their effect disappears as children grow older. Low maternal education appears to have a late effect. Gestational age does not have any significant effect on the appearance of LD.

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