Geen ontwikkelingsachterstand bij matig prematuur geboren peuters volgens de ASQ

Abstract

The aim of the current study was to investigate if the development of moderately preterm toddlers (gestational age 32-37 weeks) differs significantly from the development of full term toddlers on five developmental domains: communication, gross motor skills, fine motor skills, problem-solving and personal-social skills. Following outcomes from previous research, preterm children are expected to have a delay on the domains communication, fine motor skills and personal social skills. The developmental domains were assessed using the Ages and Stages Questionnaire [ASQ-3], which was filled out by the mothers of 104 moderately preterm children (M = 34.7, SD = 1.3 weeks gestation, range 32-37 weeks) and 88 full term children (M = 39.4, SD = 1.0 weeks gestation, range 37-42 weeks) at the time their children were 12, 18 and 24 months of age. With age corrected for prematurity, no group differences were found on any of the domains of the ASQ screening questionnaire, not across the repeated measures, nor for the three time points separately. This indicates that preterm children showed no developmental delay compared to full term children. There were also no differences within groups and there were no significant interaction effects. The ASQ-3 is translated from English to Dutch, but it is not sure that this translation is spot-on for Dutch children. Future research can be addressed to the use and translation of the ASQ-3 in Dutch. Additionally, future research is needed into the development of young children including moderately preterm children with known risk-factors such as severe birth defects.