Middle C, Johnson A, Alderdice F, Petty T, Macfarlane A
National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit, Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford, UK.
Child Care Health Dev. 1996 Jan;22(1):55-71.
This study was set up to compare the frequency of health, educational and behavioural problems in a geographically defined birth cohort of 7-year-old children grouped by weight at birth. The study design was based on a multi-stage postal survey, with sampling stratified by birthweight. It took place in the four counties of Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Northamptonshire which make up the former Oxford region. We studied 1319 live births to women resident in the former Oxford region in 1985, including all those with birthweights under 1500 g, or whose weight was not recorded, and a sample of those who weighed 1500-2499 g, and of those who weighed 2500 g or more at birth. The children in the sample were traced through the National Health Service Central Register (NHSCR) and self-administered questionnaires were sent to their parents, general practitioners (GP) and teachers. Of the 1169 children who were alive at the age of 7 years and were successfully traced, 805 (75%) were followed up by postal survey. The use of health services, and of additional educational support was higher, and school performance was poorer among children who had weighed less than 1500 g at birth than among children who had weighed 2500 g or more, with the rates for children who had weighed 1500-2499 g falling in between. This survey method identifies the higher rate of health and educational problems in children weighing under 2500 g at birth, particularly those with birthweight under 1500 g, compared with other children. The method could be developed to provide a way of monitoring any changes over time in the prevalence of these problems. This information can be used to assess the health and educational needs of 7-year-old children in the population.
本研究旨在比较按出生体重分组的某一地理区域内7岁儿童出生队列中健康、教育和行为问题的发生频率。研究设计基于多阶段邮寄调查，抽样按出生体重分层。研究在构成原牛津地区的牛津郡、白金汉郡、伯克郡和北安普敦郡这四个县进行。我们研究了1985年居住在原牛津地区的妇女所生的1319例活产儿，包括所有出生体重低于1500克或体重未记录的婴儿，以及出生体重在1500 - 2499克的婴儿样本和出生体重2500克及以上的婴儿样本。通过国民健康服务中央登记处（NHSCR）追踪样本中的儿童，并向他们的父母、全科医生（GP）和教师发送自填式问卷。在7岁时存活且成功追踪到的1169名儿童中，805名（75%）通过邮寄调查进行了随访。出生时体重低于1500克的儿童比出生体重2500克及以上的儿童使用医疗服务和接受额外教育支持的比例更高，学业成绩更差，出生体重在1500 - 2499克的儿童的比例则介于两者之间。与其他儿童相比，这种调查方法确定了出生体重低于2500克的儿童，尤其是出生体重低于1500克的儿童，存在更高的健康和教育问题发生率。该方法可以进一步发展，以提供一种监测这些问题发生率随时间变化的方式。这些信息可用于评估该人群中7岁儿童的健康和教育需求。
