Prematurity tied to future mental problems

NEW YORK, July 25 (Reuters) Children born after less than 26 weeks of pregnancy have more mental and social problems at 11 years of age than do their full-term schoolmates, researchers report in the journal Pediatrics. The good news is that the problems are seldom severe.

''Children born extremely immature have significantly greater health problems and special healthcare needs that require ongoing services through the school years,'' lead investigator Dr Aijaz Farooqi told Reuters Health. ''However, it is notable that very few children have severe impairments that curtail major activities of daily living. The overall results of this study are reassuring.'' Farooqi of University Hospital, Umea, Sweden and colleagues compared 86 extremely premature children with a like number of full-term birth children at 11 years of age.

Reports from parents, teachers and the children themselves showed that they had significantly more problems with social behavior and with depression. Teachers also reported that the children were less well adjusted to the school environment than were full-term children. They were also more likely to have chronic health problems.

However, continued Farooqi, ''despite having an increased risk for mental health problems...and school difficulties, 85 percent of the children were in the mainstream schools'' and most weren't having any major adjustment difficulty.

The findings suggest that ''current preterm follow-up programs might benefit from the addition of psychological and family services,'' Farooqi added, ''especially in the (newborn) period and first years of life.'' REUTERS RKM ND0900