Effect of early comprehensive interventions on physical growth and nervedevelopment among premature infants / 预防医学

Objective@#To examine the effect of early comprehensive interventions on the physical growth and nerve development among premature infants, so as to provide insights into the follow-up management of premature infants after discharge from hospital.@*Methods@#A total of 130 premature infants delivered in Shaoxing Municipal Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital from 2019 to 2021 were selected and divided into high- and low-risk groups according to gestational age and birth weight, while 306 full-term normal infants in the same hospital during the study period served as controls. All premature infants were given early comprehensive interventions until age of 12 months, including nutritional support and parental guidance of children's feeding and development, and all normal infants received periodical health checkup according to the basic public health service program. All infants received periodical measurements of height, weight and head circumference, and the 12-month intellectual and motor development ability was measured using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development revised in Chinese cities was used to assess. Infants' physical growth, mental development index (MDI) and motor development index (PDI) were compared among groups.@*Results@#There were 130 premature infants with gestational ages of 28 to 36 weeks and birth weight of 1 200 to 3 440 g, including 79 male infants, and there were 80 infants in the low-risk group and 50 infants in the high-risk group. The full-term infants had a gestational age of 37 to 42 weeks, and birth weights of 2 500 to 4 000 g, including 162 male infants. There were significant differences in height (Wald χ2=28.664, P<0.001) and head circumference growth (Wald χ2=19.312, P=0.013) among the three groups as revealed by the generalized estimating equation; however, no significant differences were seen in the 12-month weight (F=0.639, P=0.528), height (F=1.051, P=0.350) or head circumference (F=0.318, P=0.728) among the three groups. The percentages of abnormal MDI were 2.00%, 0 and 1.31% among the high-risk premature infants, low-risk premature infants and full-term infants at ages of 12 months (χ2=1.319, P=0.517), while the percentages of abnormal PDI were 20.00%, 7.50% and 5.56% among the three groups at ages of 12 months (χ2=12.818, P=0.002).@*Conclusions@#Following implementation of early comprehensive interventions, the premature infants have favorable physical growth and comparable MDI with full-term infants; however, a high percentage of abnormal PDI is seen in high-risk premature infants. An improvement in the motor development among high-risk premature infants is recommended to be emphasized during the management of premature infants.

Effect of Breastfeeding Duration on Cognitive Development in Infants: 3-Year Follow-up Study

We investigated the association between breastfeeding and cognitive development in infants during their first 3 years. The present study was a part of the Mothers' and Children's Environmental Health (MOCEH) study, which was a multi-center birth cohort project in Korea that began in 2006. A total of 697 infants were tested at age 12, 24, and 36 months using the Korean version of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development II (K-BSID-II). The use and duration of breastfeeding and formula feeding were measured. The relationship between breastfeeding and the mental development index (MDI) score was analyzed by multiple linear regression analysis. The results indicated a positive correlation between breastfeeding duration and MDI score. After adjusting for covariates, infants who were breastfed for ≥ 9 months had significantly better cognitive development than those who had not been breastfed. These results suggest that the longer duration of breastfeeding improves cognitive development in infants.

Follow-up study of the development in children conceived with assisted reproductive technology / 临床儿科杂志

Objective To perform a follow-up study on psychomotor development in children conceived with assisted reproductive technology. Methods A control-matched study was done including 63 infants born after assisted conception (study group)and 65 natural conception infants(control group). The pregnant women agreed to participate in the study when they were at 28 weeks of gestation and were followed-up in a predefine schedule till delivery. The regular developmental assessment was done with the CDCC Scales of Infant Development for the children of two groups till they were 24 months old. Results The mean birth weight and length were lower in the study group than those of the control group. The incidences of preterm birth,low birth weight,and NICU admission were significantly higher in the study group than those of control group. However,these differences were not significant when only singletons were compared between two groups. No statistical differences were found in the mental development index(MDI)and psychomotor development index(PDI)between two groups. Conclusions Psychomotor development of children born after assisted conception is normal at 24 months of age. Since the incidences of preterm birth,low birth weight,and multifetation are significantly higher in children born after assisted conception,their general health and development should be followed up for a longer time.