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Last Updated: Apr 16, 2008 - 5:52:06 PM |
WEDNESDAY March 26, 2008 (Foodconsumer.org) -- Children born premature will have more problems in their adulthood than previously thought, according to a long term study of more than one million men and women by Duke University and Norwegian researchers.
Preterm birth was associated with lower educational achievement, lower rates of reproduction and higher risk of having preterm birth with complications, the study showed.
The results appear in the March 26 issue of Journal of the American Medical Association.
Preterm birth, defined as birth before 37 weeks of gestation, is the leading cause of infant mortality and a major factor for complications. But the long term effects of preterm birth remain unknown.
Geeta Swamy, MD, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist at Duke, and lead author of the study said doctors may mostly focus on the short term complications for preterm birth, but the complications can linger for lifetime.
"While it is true that the risk of complications is highest in the immediate time period including hospitalization and the first year of life, that risk continues into adolescence. And the earlier you're born, the higher the risk. Those who are born extremely prematurely are more likely to have complications throughout their lives," Swamy said.
For the study, the researchers looked at data from a national registry of birth and death to analyze how preterm birth affects long term survival, subsequent reproduction and next-generation preterm birth. The data covered 20 years from 1967 through 1988. The births occurred on or after 22 weeks and through 37 weeks gestation.
They found
* Boys born between 22 and 27 weeks had the highest rate of early childhood death.
* Reproduction rates were considerably lower for men and women born preterm when compared to those born at term. Reproduction increased in direct proportion to higher gestational age.
* Women born preterm were more likely to experience recurrent preterm birth and an increased risk of adverse outcomes in their offspring. A similar pattern was reported for fetal stillbirth and infant mortality among women born preterm.
* The lower the gestational age, the greater the risk of having less education.
Usually low birth weight is an indicator of how well a baby will do, but Swamy believes that gestational age may be an even stronger predictor.
She said preterm survival is now improving because of intervention in prenatal and neonatal care, but the intervention may "adversely affecting the overall health and quality of life in the long run."
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