Developmental Outcomes of Premature and Low Birth Weight Infants

Background: Prematurity is the most common cause of death and disability an‎d Preterm infants, are prone to developmental complications. For this reason this study was designed for follow up of these babies until 2 years by modified DDST-2. Methods: This study was a prospective longitudinal descriptive study from March 2009 to March 2011 in clinic of sheikh and Imam Reza Hospitals, Mashhad, Iran. Sample size with Confidence coefficient of 95% and power 80%, was determined 100 hundred babies. Infants were seen by a pediatrician at a follow up clinic at 1, 3, 6, 9,12,15,18, 24, months. The developmental assessment was done using Denver-2 Developmental Screening Test. Results: mean age for smiling was 4.6 ± 2.1 months which significantly differed with appropriate age (p<0.001), mean age for telling two syllables words 11.7 ± 1.9 months, without significant difference of appropriate age.(p = 0.139). Average age for understanding NO was 10.4 ±2.0 months that significantly differed with appropriate age (p<0.001). The average age for telling 6 word was 17.8 ±3.0, without significant difference with appropriate age (p = 0.510). Conclusion: Children with history of prematurity and low birth weight have more disability and developmental delay so they need to developmental screening tests.