Avchen R N, Scott K G, Mason C A
Department of Psychology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33124-0721, USA.
Am J Epidemiol. 2001 Nov 15;154(10):895-901. doi: 10.1093/aje/154.10.895.
Mortality rates have declined for low birth weight and extremely low birth weight infants. Yet, the consequences of survival for these children may be adverse developmental outcomes. Few studies to date have examined school-age outcomes for these children. The participants in this study represented a population-based cohort of Florida children who were born between 1982 and 1984 and who were receiving a public school education in 1996-1997. Linkage methodology was used to establish a cohort of 267,213 children aged 12-15 years with both birth certificate and school records. Birth weights were stratified into 500-g increments beginning with <or=999 g; 17% of the population had some school-identified disability. Risk ratios for specified school-identified disabilities increased as birth weight decreased for all birth weight strata of <or=3,499 g. Narrow increments of birth weights may better portray a more accurate estimate of risk for infants born at extremes than the conventional definition of <2,500 g.
低出生体重和极低出生体重婴儿的死亡率已经下降。然而，这些儿童存活下来的后果可能是不良的发育结果。迄今为止，很少有研究考察这些儿童到学龄期的情况。本研究的参与者代表了佛罗里达州一个基于人群的队列，这些儿童出生于1982年至1984年之间，并于1996 - 1997年接受公立学校教育。采用关联方法建立了一个由267,213名12至15岁儿童组成的队列，这些儿童同时拥有出生证明和学校记录。出生体重以500克的增量进行分层，起始值为≤999克；17%的人群有学校认定的某种残疾。对于所有出生体重≤3,499克的分层，特定学校认定残疾的风险比随着出生体重的降低而增加。与传统的<2,500克定义相比，出生体重的窄增量可能能更好地描绘出极端出生体重婴儿风险的更准确估计。
