Executive functioning in school-aged children who were born very preterm or with extremely low birth weight in the 1990s

Abstract

Objective. To determine the frequency, nature, and severity of executive dysfunction (EDF) at 8 years of age in extremely low birth weight (ELBW)/very preterm infants who were born in the 1990s, compared with normal birth weight (NBW) control subjects. Methods. A geographically determined cohort study was conducted in Victoria, Australia. The ELBW/very preterm cohort comprised 298 consecutive survivors at 2 years of age who had gestational ages <28 completed weeks or birth weights 2499 g matched on date of birth, gender, ethnicity, and health insurance status. The participation rate was 92% (275 of 298) for the ELBW/very preterm cohort and 85% (223 of 262) for the NBW cohort. Cognitive and b..