Cerebral visual impairment captured with a structured history inventory in extremely preterm born children aged 6.5 years.

PURPOSE

To investigate whether a questionnaire can identify cerebral visual impairment (CVI) in a group of 6.5-year-old children born extremely preterm (EPT) as accurately as direct assessments.

METHODS

This prospective population-based study included 120 children born before 27 weeks' gestational age (66 males; mean, 25.4 ± 1.0 weeks) and 97 full-term controls (56 males; mean, 39.9 ± 1.1 weeks) at the age of 6.5 years, as part of the Extremely Preterm Infants in Sweden Study (EXPRESS). A questionnaire for detection of CVI was evaluated and compared with visual, perceptual, and cognitive assessments.

RESULTS

Parents of children born EPT reported more CVI features than the parents of control children, with median sum scores of 25 (95% CI, 18.1-31.9) and 11 (95% CI, 8.8-13.2), respectively (P < 0.001), and a median difference of 14 (95% CI, 6.6-21.4). Low rates of reported CVI features were significantly associated with better results from direct assessments within the EPT group and with less pronounced differences compared to controls.

CONCLUSIONS

The questionnaire discriminated well between children born EPT and controls, and the scores were congruent with other evidence of visual, perceptual, and cognitive deficits. The easily used questionnaire compared favorably with direct assessment in identifying CVI in children born EPT and also provides valuable information to clinicians, and parents about the daily life problems associated with CVI.