Very preterm children show some catch-up in verbal skills at age 11 despite poorer memory
Published on Thursday, 03 November 2016 Tweet
Children who are born very preterm (before 32 weeks gestation) have an increased risk of cognitive impairment compared with their full term peers. However, it is unclear whether these risks remain as the child gets older.
New research from Alyssa Fitzpatrick and Jennifer Carter and Maria Quigley suggests that by the time the children reach age 11, they still have a higher risk of impaired working memory, but they do not have a higher risk of verbal delay, indicating a possible catch-up effect. The results are based on more than 11,000 children in the Millennium Cohort Study.
