Robert M Joseph, Thomas M O’Shea, Elizabeth N Allred, Tim Heeren, Deborah Hirtz, Hernan Jara, Alan Leviton, Karl C K Kuban, ELGAN Study Investigators
Pediatrics. 2016 Apr;137(4):e20154343. doi: 10.1542/peds.2015-4343. Epub 2016 Mar 22.
873 children assessed with well-validated tests of cognitive and academic function. Distributions of test scores were consistently and markedly shifted < normative expectation, with ⅓ to ⅔ performing >1 SD < age expectation. The most extreme downward shifts were on measures of executive control & processing speed. MVA adjusted for SES & growth restriction: risk of poor outcome highest at lowest GA across all 18 measures. CONCLUSIONS: More than ½ of cohort exhibited moderate or severe neurocognitive deficits at age 10 years, with most extensive impairments found among those born at the lowest gestational age.