Dalili Hosein, Moezi Arya, Ansari Shirin, Farahani Zahra, Shariat Mamak
Breastfeeding Research Center, Family Health Research Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
J Family Reprod Health. 2023 Mar;17(1):14-20. doi: 10.18502/jfrh.v17i1.11972.
Advances in technology and treatments have improved the survival rate of small for gestational age (SGA) infants that need more concern for their neurodevelopmental outcomes. In the present study, we hypothesized that a history of SGA may affect verbal and non-verbal intelligence indices among pre-school children.
A case-control study was conducted at the Tehran University of Medical Sciences (Tehran-Iran, 2020). Totally 232 children entered the study. An expert pediatrician examined all included subjects. Based on birth weight (extracted from medical records), participants were divided into the case (born SGA) and control (born Appropriate for gestational age (AGA)) groups. Wechsler Intelligence Scale (WISC) and Conners tests were implemented to assess intelligence quotient (IQ), verbal, attention, development, and executive functions. Finally, total scores were compared between groups.
Totally, 232 preschool children were included in the study. Of all, 114 (49.1%) and 118 (50.9%) subjects had the history of born SGA and AGA, respectively. The results related to WISC scores showed that the mean WISC-verbal score among children born SGA was significantly higher than children born AGA; (114.288±18.130 vs. 108.898±20.145; P=0.024). This significant difference was associated with Vocabulary (13.531±2.843 vs. 12.745±3.242; p=0.046) and Similarities (14.054±3.630 vs. 13.279±4.898; p=0.048) domains between the groups. The results related to different domains of the Conners test also showed that the mean scores of Inattention (B) and attention deficit hyperactive disorder score (D) in the case group were higher than these scores in the control group; however, these differences were not significant (4.929±3.511 vs. 4.906±4.300; p=0.495 &10.371±5.867 vs. 10.093±7.588; p=0.211).
Our results indicated that the development of non-verbal intelligence in children born with SGA had been delayed. This finding shows that these children may need more consideration during the preschool period and after that.
技术和治疗方法的进步提高了小于胎龄儿（SGA）的存活率，而这些婴儿的神经发育结局更值得关注。在本研究中，我们假设SGA病史可能会影响学龄前儿童的语言和非语言智力指标。
在德黑兰医科大学开展了一项病例对照研究（伊朗德黑兰，2020年）。共有232名儿童参与了该研究。由一名专业儿科医生对所有纳入研究的对象进行检查。根据出生体重（从病历中提取），将参与者分为病例组（出生时为SGA）和对照组（出生时为适于胎龄儿（AGA））。采用韦氏智力量表（WISC）和康纳斯测试来评估智商（IQ）、语言、注意力、发育和执行功能。最后，比较两组的总分。
本研究共纳入232名学龄前儿童。其中，分别有114名（49.1%）和118名（50.9%）受试者有SGA和AGA出生史。与WISC分数相关的结果显示，SGA出生儿童的WISC语言平均分数显著高于AGA出生儿童；（114.288±18.130对108.898±20.145；P=0.024）。这一显著差异与两组之间的词汇（13.531±2.843对12.745±3.242；p=0.046）和相似性（14.054±3.630对13.279±4.898；p=0.048）领域有关。与康纳斯测试不同领域相关的结果还显示，病例组的注意力不集中（B）和注意力缺陷多动障碍分数（D）的平均分数高于对照组；然而，这些差异不显著（4.929±3.511对4.906±4.300；p=0.495和10.371±5.867对10.093±7.588；p=0.211）。
我们的结果表明，SGA出生儿童的非语言智力发育有所延迟。这一发现表明，这些儿童在学龄前及之后可能需要更多的关注。
