Very preterm children who do not cooperate with assessments at three years of age: Skill differences at five years

This study examined skill differences at 5 years of age for very preterm children who were or were not cooperative with developmental testing at 3 years of age. All children born between 1986 and 1991 who were less than 30 weeks of gestation were followed prospectively. Two hundred one children were seen at both the 3- and 5-year assessments. Of the 201 children, 24 (11.9%) who had been uncooperative in the assessment at 3 years were seen at 5 years. Uncooperative children were matched to a group of cooperative children for sex, gestation, and/or birth weight. Nonparametric analyses revealed that scores on the Binet Pattern Analysis (p < .01) and the Bead Memory (p < .01) subtests were significantly different between the groups. The uncooperative children scored significantly more often in the at-risk range for tests of minor neurological dysfunction (MND; p < .01) compared with cooperative matched controls. The authors speculate that in very preterm children, uncooperative behavior shown at 3 years of age associated with poor visual/spatial skills and a high level of MND at 5 years of age may reveal children at risk for the development of non-verbal learning disabilities. J Dev Behav Pediatr 21:107-113, 2000. Index terms: very preterm, behavior, cognitive outcome.