Premature kids at high risk of mental disorder--study

The Telegraph quoted study authors as saying, “Clinically the findings suggest that much greater emphasis should be placed on early cognitive and psychological monitoring of extremely preterm children for emerging neuropsychiatric and emotional disorders.”

The researchers were further quoted in The Times of India as saying, “This is the first study to systematically investigate the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in a contemporary population of extremely preterm survivors.”

Longitudinal study of 219 children
The research team conducted the study on the base of data collected as part of the EPICure Study.

As part of the study, researchers followed 219 children born in England and Ireland before 26-week gestation period.

These extremely preterm children were followed for 11 years starting from age one to 2.5 years, six to eight years till they were 10 to 11 years old.

The EPICure study aimed at evaluating kids’ survival chances and their after-health.

They also observed the disorders the survivors suffered as the study concluded after 11 years.

Study findings
On analyzing the results of the long-term study, researchers found that of the total number of subjects, about a quarter suffered some form of mental disorder by age 11.

The most common forms of disorders among the children were categorized as later cognitive, neuromotor, and sensory impairments.

Apart from this, 12 percent of the kids suffered from Attention-Deficit also called Hyperactivity Disorder, nine percent had emotional disorders and eight percent were found to be suffering from Autism Spectrum Disorders.

The study researchers also reported that extremely preterm children were at a three times higher risk of falling prey to psychiatric disorders or some form of mental health problems.

Researcher Dr. Joan Luby told The Telegraph, “New findings from the EPICure study, the largest and longest investigation of psychiatric outcomes in premature infants conducted to date, demonstrate marked increased behavioral risks in this population, thereby shedding some of the brightest and most elucidating light on this area yet available.”

The study appears in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.