PERINATOLOGIYA I PEDIATRIYA.2014.2(58):25-29; doi 10.15574/PP.2014.58.25 

Psychomotor and social-emotional development of very preterm infants 
 

Vlasenkо D. Y.

Vinnitsya national medical university named after M.I. Pyrohov, Vinnitsya, Ukraine 
 

Purpose — follow-up monitoring of deep premature children until they reach 18 months of corrected age with the assessment of motor, cognitive and social-emotional development. 
 

Materials and methods. The combined use of scales of early development MSEL and adapted behavior questionnaires CBCL 1 1/2-5 and M-CHAT-R/F considering adjusted age and neurological disorders. 
 

Results. Frequency of deviations of motor and/or intellectual development in very preterm infants exceeds 70%, behavioral problems accompanied by 25% of them. The degree of lag in psychomotor development reaches 9–12 months in children with severe pathology of the central nervous system and 3–5 months in children without it. There is a strong correlation between the level of psychomotor development and frequency of behavioral abnormalities. 
 

Conclusion. Severe neurological pathology in the neonatal period increases the chances of motor delays in 15 times, and cognitive — in 6 times in 18 months adjusted age, not significantly affecting the socio-emotional status of preterm infants. 
 

Key words: premature infants, extremely low birth weight, follow-up, psychomotor retardation, autism, behavior problems. 
 

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