Pattern of growth and development of premature children at the age of two and three years in Alexandria, Egypt [Part I]

A case-control study was conducted in Alexandria on 68 premature children: 32 of them at the age of 2 and 36 at the age of three years. The aim was to depict the pattern of growth and development among them. Controls were full-term children, who were double the number of prematures and matched by age and sex. It was found that the growth pattern of full-term children aged two and three years was better than that of prematures. Moreover, prematures were significantly delayed in some developmental areas as language, fine motor-adaptive sectors and personal-social domains than their corresponding controls. The study suggests that the provision of quality medical care could eliminate the growth and developmental lag of premature children

Pattern of growth development of premature children at the age of two and three years in Alexandria, Egypt [Part II]

This is the second part of a paper on a study conducted in Alexandria on 68 premature children. Controls were full-term children, double the number of prematures, and matched by age and sex. The first part presented differences in growth and development in relation to prematurity. This part deals with risk factors for prematurity. The study revealed that low educational level of fathers and parental smoking were significant risk factors for prematurity. The mean age of both parents and mothers' gravidity were significantly higher for prematures. Other risk factors were identified. Mothers with diabetes and chronic nephritis were more likely to have a premature child