Visuospatial perception in children born preterm with no major neurological disorders.

OBJECTIVE

Many investigations have found deficits in visuospatial perception in children born preterm, however, it is not clear whether the deficits are specific to visuospatial perception or the consequences of deficits in other functional areas, which often accompany preterm birth. This study investigated whether children born preterm show a specific deficit in visuospatial perception.

METHOD

Fifty-six 7- to 11-year-old preterm born children (gestational age <34 weeks) without cerebral palsy and 51 age-matched, full-term children completed four computerized tasks tapping different levels and types of visuospatial perception. Accuracy and speed of responses were recorded. Task formats were designed to reduce demands on attentional deployment. Measures of intelligence and parental education were included in the analysis.

RESULTS

Children born preterm performed less accurately and/or less rapidly on all tasks. Their poorer performance did not reflect differences in speed-accuracy trade-off. Parental education and IQ, both significantly lower in the preterm children, contributed positively to performance on all tasks. IQ mediated the association between preterm birth and visuospatial performance on the most cognitively demanding task.

CONCLUSION

Children born preterm performed more poorly than full-term controls on four visuospatial perceptual tasks. Although intelligence and parental education were also associated with performance, preterm birth contributed independently of these factors on three of four tasks. Many children born preterm are thus multiply disadvantaged on visuospatial tasks: the lower IQ scores and parental educational levels frequently found in this group increase the deficit associated with preterm birth.