Outcome at 3 years of age in a low birth weight cohort
Pallás Alonso, C.R.; de la Cruz Bertolo, J.; Medina López, M.C.; de Alba Romero, C.; Orbea Gallardo, C.; Belaustegui Cueto, A.; Rodríguez-Gimenez, C.
Anales Espanoles de Pediatria 48(2): 152-158
1998
ISSN/ISBN: 0302-4342 PMID: 9577023 Document Number: 485217
The objective of this study was to establish the outcome at 3 years of age for very low birth weight newborns admitted to the Hospital 12 de Octubre from January 1991 to December 1993. A follow-up study was performed. The pediatric assessment included a neurological, psychological, visual and audiological evaluation. At the end of the follow-up, children were blindly assessed to determine the rate of neurosensory disability. The severity of the neurosensory disability was graded as severe, moderate or mild by a functional classification. The rates of cerebral palsy, blindness and deafness were reported. Two hundred fifty-three infants between 500 and 1,499 g were admitted to the Hospital 12 de Octubre of which 182 survived. Of these, 137 (75% of the survivors) were assessed at 3 years of age. The children who dropped out during the follow-up period had similar characteristics to those with a complete follow-up program except that the drop-out child was more likely to belong to a disadvantaged family. The rate of neurosensory disability was 28.5% (39/137), 16% were mild, 5% moderate and 7% severe. The rate of cerebral palsy was 13% (18/137), blindness 1.4% and deafness 0.7%. Children from more disadvantaged families are less likely to continue in follow-up programs and this supposes a bias in the follow-up program. At 3 years, neurosensory disability was diagnosed in 1 out of every 4 children and cerebral palsy in 1 out of 8 children.