Psychosocial Outcomes of Young Adults Born Very Low Birth Weight Brian A. Darlow, L. John Horwood, Huia M.

Pere-Bracken and Lianne J. Woodward Pediatrics 2013;132;e1521; originally published online November 18, 2013; DOI: 10.1542/peds.2013-2024

The online version of this article, along with updated information and services, is located on the World Wide Web at:
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/132/6/e1521.full.html

PEDIATRICS is the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics. A monthly publication, it has been published continuously since 1948. PEDIATRICS is owned, published, and trademarked by the American Academy of Pediatrics, 141 Northwest Point Boulevard, Elk Grove Village, Illinois, 60007. Copyright 2013 by the American Academy of Pediatrics. All rights reserved. Print ISSN: 0031-4005. Online ISSN: 1098-4275.

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Psychosocial Outcomes of Young Adults Born Very Low Birth Weight

AUTHORS: Brian A. Darlow, MD, FRACP,a L. John Horwood, MSc,b Huia M. Pere-Bracken, MA,a and Lianne J. Woodward, PhDc
aDepartment of Pediatrics, and bChristchurch Health and Development Study, University of Otago Christchurch, Christchurch, New Zealand; and cDepartment of Pediatrics and Psychology, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, Missouri

WHATS KNOWN ON THIS SUBJECT: Several studies have suggested that very low birth weight young adults have increased risks of physical and health problems, educational underachievement, and poorer social functioning than their peers, but there are limited population-based and longitudinal data. WHAT THIS STUDY ADDS: Former VLBW young adults in this national cohort scored as well as term controls on many measures of health and social functioning, including quality-of-life scores, with some differences largely conned to those with disability at age 7 to 8 years.

KEY WORDS infant, very low birth weight, young adults, long-term outcome, New Zealand/epidemiology, health status, educational status, quality of life, questionnaire ABBREVIATIONS SGAsmall for gestational age VLBWvery low birth weight VPvery preterm Dr Darlow conceptualized and designed the study and drafted the initial manuscript; Mr Horwood contributed to the study concept and design, carried out the initial analyses, and reviewed and revised the manuscript; Ms Pere-Bracken contributed to the study design, was responsible for all the data collection, and critically reviewed the manuscript; Dr Woodward contributed to the study design and reviewed and revised the manuscript; and all authors approved the nal manuscript as submitted. www.pediatrics.org/cgi/doi/10.1542/peds.2013-2024 doi:10.1542/peds.2013-2024 Accepted for publication Sep 19, 2013 Address correspondence to Brian A. Darlow, MD, FRACP, Department of Pediatrics, University of Otago Christchurch, PO Box 4345, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand. E-mail: brian. darlow@otago.ac.nz PEDIATRICS (ISSN Numbers: Print, 0031-4005; Online, 1098-4275). Copyright 2013 by the American Academy of Pediatrics FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE: The authors have indicated they have no nancial relationships relevant to this article to disclose. FUNDING: All phases of this study were supported by a project grant from the New Zealand Child Health Research Foundation (Cure Kids). POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST: The authors have indicated they have no potential conicts of interest to disclose.

abstract
OBJECTIVE: To assess the early adult health, education, and social functioning of a national cohort of very low birth weight (VLBW) infants born in 1986 in New Zealand compared with a control group of young adults born the same year. The impact of neurodevelopmental disability at age 7 to 8 years on young adult outcomes was examined. METHODS: Participants underwent a comprehensive face-to-face interview that included standardized assessment tools and previously used custom written survey items. RESULTS: We interviewed 230 VLBW young adults (71% of survivors) and 69 controls at age 22 to 23 years. VLBW young adults were 5.6 kg lighter and 4.2 cm shorter than controls, had lower rates of tertiary education/ training (percentage difference [95% condence interval]: 213.1 [221.6 to 21.8]) and university degree completion (215.6 [228.0 to 24.8]), had more often been welfare dependent (23.5 [10.2 to 35.0]), had few or no friends (20.5 [7.2 to 32.2]), and more often had wheeze in the past year (20.1 [9.0 to 28.6]). However, in many areas there were no differences between the VLBW cohort and controls, and VLBW adults rated their overall quality of life and behavioral functioning similarly to their peers. Those with previous disability had poorer social, occupational, and physical functioning than other VLBW young adults. CONCLUSIONS: Despite some evidence of health, educational, and social difculties, former VLBW young adults obtained similar scores across many aspects of health and social functioning as their same age peers, with some differences largely conned to those with previous disability. Pediatrics 2013;132:e1521e1528

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Infants born very low birth weight (VLBW; ,1500 g) or very preterm (VP; ,32 wk gestation) account for 1% to 2% of live births but between 50% and 75% of the workload of NICUs.1 Although survival rates for these infants now exceed 90%,2 what is most important for the individual, their families, and society is the quality of that survival in the longer term. Knowledge of longer term outcomes is also crucial to inform current neonatal care. There is now clear evidence demonstrating increased rates of health problems among surviving VLBW infants compared with those born at term in their early years.3 During childhood, VLBW infants are more likely to experience poor growth, whereas neurosensory impairments, including cerebral palsy, are seen in up to 10%. Even more common are neurobehavioral impairments, with up to 40% of school-aged children born VP experiencing cognitive delay, learning problems, executive decits, educational underachievement, and clinically signicant emotional and behavioral adjustment problems, especially attention-decit/hyperactivity disorder.410 Data are now emerging from a growing body of cohort and crosssectional studies, particularly during adolescence but also early adulthood, showing that these impairments may persist and in turn impact the preterm survivors longer term functioning and life-course opportunities.1117 In 1986, we enrolled all New Zealand VLBW infants admitted for neonatal intensive care in a prospective study of retinopathy of prematurity,18 and surviving children were followed up at ages 7 to 8 years.8,9 This cohort is unique in being populationbased, characterized by high rates of antenatal steroid exposure, and with comprehensive information on child health and development during middle childhood. The aim of the current study was to retrace the cohort at 23 years and to assess their health, educational and
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occupational achievement, and social functioning relative to a comparison group of young adults born at term in the same year.

METHODS
Participants The 1986 cohort comprised all 413 VLBW infants who were live born and admitted for NICU care in New Zealand, 338 (82%) of whom survived to discharge.18 At birth, 58% had received antenatal steroids, 132 (32%) weighed ,1000 g, 126 (31%) were ,28 wk gestation, 103 (25%) were small for gestational age (SGA), and 95 (23%) were born to mothers who identied as Maori. Survival for those born ,1000 g and at ,28 wk was 64%. At follow-up at age 7 to 8 years, an additional 12 children had died, and we assessed 298 children (96% of survivors who resided in New Zealand; 91% of all survivors). Of these, 5% had severe disability, 5% had moderate disability, and 15% had mild disability, which was principally an IQ between 1 and 2 SDs below the mean.8 Compared with the Christchurch Health and Development Study cohort studied at the same age, the VLBW cohort had higher rates of behavioral problems (conduct disorders, attention problems, anxiety/withdrawal) and poorer school achievement.9,19 In the current study, the cohort was traced through their addresses at age 7 to 8 years, grandparents addresses, general practitioners, National Health Index codes (a unique person identier used within the New Zealand health system since 1993) via the electoral rolls and, in a limited number of cases, by local advertisements. Checks were made with Statistics New Zealand to see if any individuals had died since the last follow-up. A comparison group of individuals who were born at term in New Zealand and who were not admitted for NICU care was recruited, initially through peer nomination by cohort members

(total of 40) and, because of time constraints, subsequently also via random sampling from electoral rolls (total of 29), ensuring balance with respect to the gender, ethnicity, and regional distribution of the sample. There were no substantive differences between those recruited by either method in terms of characteristics or outcome. Assessment Measures After written informed consent, all participants underwent a face-to-face interview conducted by 1 researcher, which lasted 2 hours. This interview examined individual functioning across a range of domains including the following: current living arrangements; education, income, and employment; physical and mental health; family, peer, and partner relationships; individual behavior and everyday executive difculties; and quality of life, self-esteem, and overall life satisfaction. The interview incorporated a series of standardized assessment tools including the following: the Short Form 36 Health Survey, version 2,20 which allows quality-of-life scores to be derived; the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive FunctionAdult Version21; the Barkley adult self-report scales of attentiondecit/hyperactivity disorder and oppositional deant disorder symptoms22; components of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview23 for assessment of mental disorders; the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachments24; and the Rosenberg self-esteem scale.25 This information was supplemented by custom written survey items used previously in the Christchurch Health and Development Study26 to assess education, employment, income, health history, social and partner relationships, and life satisfaction. In addition, participants were assessed for height, weight, waist circumference, and body mass index (BMI). A more detailed description of the measures used in the

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present analysis is provided in Supplemental Table 7. Statistical Analysis Between-group comparisons were tested for statistical signicance by using the x2 test of independence for comparison of percentages, Poisson regression for analysis of count outcomes, and the t test for independent samples or analysis of variance for differences in means of other continuous outcomes. Effect size estimates were summarized by the mean or percentage difference in outcome between groups and the associated 95% condence interval. In supplementary analyses, the VLBW group was further stratied to test for variation in outcome by previous neurosensory disability at age 7 to 8 (none, mild, moderate/severe). Analyses were also conducted to compare outcomes for those in the VLBW cohort who were SGA at birth (birth weight ,10th percentile) relative to those who were normally grown. Finally, to examine whether effect size differences were inuenced by between-group differences in participant characteristics (age at assessment, gender, ethnicity, parental education, socioeconomic status), the observed outcome comparisons were adjusted by using multiple regression methods (logistic regression for dichotomous outcomes, Poisson regression for count outcomes, and multiple linear regression for other continuous outcomes). The study had 80% power at a = 0.05 to detect a mean or percentage difference in outcome between groups with effect sizes (Cohens d) in the range of d = 0.3 to 0.5, depending on the nature of the outcome being assessed. These calculations suggest the study had adequate power to detect small to moderate effect sizes. Where the case group is further stratied (eg, by previous disability), power is reduced for subgroup analyses. In these
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cases, the design has adequate power to detect moderate to large effect sizes (d = 0.50.8). The study was approved by the Multiregion Ethics Committee of the Ministry of Health (New Zealand).

RESULTS
Of the national VLBW cohort born in 1986, 324 were believed tobe alivein2008,with 2 known deaths since 7 to 8 years of age (of unknown causes), and 251 were traced and approached to take part in this study. This report concerns the 230 who consented to participate (92% of those approached; 71% of the surviving cohort), together with 69 controls. Table 1 describes the characteristics of the sample. VLBW participants were interviewed at a mean age that was 3 months younger than the controls (P , .001). There were no signicant differences between the proportion of the 230 survivors assessed and the 94 survivors not assessed who weighed ,1000 g at birth; were born at ,28 wk gestation; were born SGA; were male, Maori, or Pacic Islander; or who had moderate/severe disability at 7 to 8 years of age (Supplemental Table 8). There was no effect of receipt of antenatal steroids related to any of the outcomes reported below.

Education, employment and income, or welfare dependence are shown in Table 2. The VLBW cohort had lower overall educational attainment, with half as many gaining a university degree. The trend was most marked for those with previous disability at age 7 to 8 years (34.4%, no qualications; 19%, high school completion; 56.9%, tertiary enrollment; 3.4%, university degree). VLBW graduates were more likely to have ever been welfare dependent. There was a clear trend (P , .01) on all measures toward lower income, hours worked, and greater welfare dependence with increasing previous disability at age 7 to 8 years. (Further information on outcomes for the VLBW cohort stratied by variation in previous neurosensory disability at age 78 years is provided in the Supplemental Information and Supplemental Tables 913.) Family, peer, and sexual/partner relationships are shown in Table 3. The VLBW cohort reported being closer to their parents/grandparents but had fewer friends. There were signicant trends for fewer friends and poorer quality peer relationships as assessed by the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachments scale with increasing disability at age 7 to 8 years (P , .05). In terms of current living arrangements, the VLBW cohort was more likely to be still living

TABLE 1 Characteristics of Study Participants

Characteristic Birth weight, mean (SD), g Male gender, % Maori/Pacic Island ethnicity, % Age of mother at birth of child, mean (SD), y Mother with tertiary qualications, % Father with tertiary qualications, % Family of professional/ managerial SES, % Age at assessment, mean (SD), y Antenatal steroids, % VLBW Cohort (n = 230) 1145 (238) 45.2 31.7 26.6 (6.1) 40.8 46.4 45.1 22.4 (0.5) 58.3 Term Controls (n = 69) 3607 (651) 47.8 23.2 27.8 (4.4) 45.0 50.0 54.8 22.7 (0.7) Mean/Percentage Difference (95% CI) 22462 (22617 to 22307) 22.6 (215.8 to 10.5) 8.6 (24.0 to 19.0) 21.2 (22.8 to 0.4) 24.2 (218.4 to 9.7) 23.6 (218.3 to 11.2) 29.3 (222.3 to 3.9) 20.27 (20.42 to 20.12) P ,.001 .70 .17 .16 .57 .65 .18 ,.001

CI, condence interval; SES, socioeconomic status; , not assessed.

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TABLE 2 Education, Employment, and Income/Welfare Dependence

Measure Educational attainment, % No formal educational qualications High school completiona Enrolled in tertiary education/training Attained a university degree Employment Working in paid employment, % Hours worked per week, mean (SD) Income/welfare dependence After-tax income, mean (SD), NZD/wk Welfare dependent (ever), % Welfare dependent (past 12 months), % VLBW Cohort Term Controls (n = 230) (n = 69) 14.4 33.9 73.9 14.8 66.5 25.4 (21.2) 438 (270) 53.9 31.3 5.8 44.9 87.0 30.4 73.9 26.4 (19.9) 480 (236) 30.4 21.7 Mean/Percentage Difference (95% CI) 8.6 (20.1 to 14.8) 211.0 (224.1 to 1.8) 213.1 (221.6 to 21.8) 215.6 (228.0 to 24.8) 27.4 (218.3 to 5.4) 21.0 (26.6 to 4.6) 242 (2113 to 29) 23.5 (10.2 to 35.0) 9.6 (22.9 to 19.8) P

no apparent variability in previous disability. Physical health and growth variables are shown in Table 5. As well as an overall higher incidence of hospital attendance in the past year and lifetime chronic illness and wheeze among the VLBW cohort, there were also higher lifetime incidences of cardiac (P = .02), vision (P = .04), and hearing (P = .03) problems (data not shown). Lifetime hospital admissions and severe or chronic illness was greatest for those with moderate/severe disability at age 7 to 8 years. The cohort was, on average, 5.6 kg lighter and 4.2 cm shorter than controls. The average weight/height differentials between the cohort and controls did not vary with gender. There was also no signicant between-group variability in mean BMI or waist circumference by gender. Executive functioning, behavior, quality of life, and overall functioning are shown in Table 6. The 2 groups had similar scores on all measures. There was a trend for poorer behavioral regulation composite scores (P = .03) on the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive FunctionAdult Version with increasing disability at age 7 to 8 years. Compared with others in the VLBW cohort, those born SGA were, on average, 8.5 (95% CI: 3.212.8) kg lighter and 6.3 (95% CI: 3.69.0) cm shorter (P , .001). They were also more likely to have a lifetime diagnosis of asthma (46.2% vs 30.3%; P = .02) and wheeze in the past 12 months (36.9% vs 29.7%), but this difference was not signicant (P = .29). Finally, analyses were extended by using regression methods to include control for possible between-group differences in personal and family background characteristics (age at assessment, gender, ethnicity, parental education, family socioeconomic status). Control for these factors did not materially affect any of the observed

.06 .10 .024 .003 .25 .73 .26 ,.001 .13

CI, condence interval; NZD, New Zealand dollars. a Completed 5 years of high school education and attained Higher School Certicate, University Entrance or an equivalent qualication.

TABLE 3 Family, Peer, and Sexual/Partner Relationships

Measure Family relationships, % Close/very close relationship with mother Close/very close relationship with father Close/very close relationship with grandparents Peer relationships, % Has few/no friends Sexual/partner relationships, % Had sex (ever) Had sex (past 12 months) Had romantic partner (past 12 months) Ever cohabited with partner Ever pregnant/got partner pregnant Became a parent
CI, condence interval.

VLBW Cohort (n = 230) 85.2 78.0 78.2

Term Controls (n = 69) 88.2 63.1 61.1

Mean/Percentage Difference (95% CI) 23.0 (210.7 to 7.5) 14.9 (2.7 to 28.0) 17.1 (3.7 to 31.4)

.53 .014 .011

52.4 76.5 61.7 59.1 50.9 28.7 18.7

31.9 89.9 81.2 75.4 59.4 34.8 21.7

20.5 (7.2 to 32.2) 213.4 (221.2 to 22.7) 219.5 (229.3 to 27.1) 216.3 (227.0 to 23.4) 28.5 (221.1 to 4.9) 26.1 (219.1 to 5.8) 23.0 (215.0 to 6.8)

,.001 .016 .005 .014 .21 .33 .58

with their parents and less likely to be rooming with their peers (P , .05; data not shown). In addition, those with moderate/severe disability were more likely to be living with parents (56% vs 36% of those with no/mild disability vs 25% of controls) or in residential care (22% [5 individuals] vs none in the other groups) (P , .001). There was an overall trend toward lesser engagement by the VLBW cohort in sexual/partner relationships, and rates of engagement were all substantially lower for those with moderate/severe disability at age 7 to 8 years (P , .05).
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Substance abuse, criminality, and mental health are shown in Table 4. The VLBW cohort had similar rates of tobacco, alcohol, and cannabis use compared with controls but lesser involvement with other illicit drugs. There was a consistent trend for those with moderate/ severe disability at age 7 to 8 years to be much less likely to have any involvement with drugs, both legal and illicit (P , .05). There were no differences in the rates of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition, disorders or suicidal behaviors between the cohort and controls, and there was

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TABLE 4 Substance Use, Criminality, and Mental Health

Measure Substance use, % Daily smoker Weekly alcohol use Cannabis use (ever) Cannabis use (past 12 months) Other illicit drug use (ever) Other illicit drug use (past 12 months) Criminality, % Arrested/convicted (ever) Mental health, % Major depression (past 12 months) Anxiety disorder (ever) Anxiety disorder (past 12 months) Suicidal ideation/attempt (ever) Suicidal ideation/attempt (past 12 months)
CI, condence interval.

VLBW Cohort (n = 230) 28.3 37.4 67.8 30.4 40.4 10.0

Term Controls (n = 69) 26.1 37.7 68.1 36.2 58.0 15.9

Mean/Percentage Difference (95% CI) 2.2 (210.5 to 13.0) 20.3 (213.5 to 12.0) 20.3 (211.9 to 12.0) 25.8 (218.8 to 6.3) 217.6 (230.0 to 24.1) 25.9 (216.8 to 2.2) 27.4 (219.7 to 3.1) 2.0 (29.7 to 11.4) 22.5 (215.7 to 9.8) 0.3 (211.4 to 9.6) 1.7 (210.9 to 12.5) 0.0 (26.4 to 9.5)

.72 .96 .96 .36 .01 .17

past year. However, in many areas, there were no differences between the VLBW young adults and controls, and VLBW graduates rated their overall quality of life and behavioral functioning in a similar way to their term peers. Several reports have shown that former VLBW/VP young adults do have lower median IQ scores than their peers, even after excluding those with neurosensory impairments and controlling for confounding factors; and fewer graduate from high school or enter tertiary education.11,12,27 We did not formally measure IQ in this study, but differences in educational outcomes between the VLBW young adults and controls were more marked in those with previous disability at 7 to 8 years. Similarly, there were clear trends for those with previous disability, and particularly those with moderate or severe disability at age 7 to 8, to have poorer social, occupational, and physical functioning, and to exhibit poorer behavioral regulation than other VLBW young adults. There are a number of studies that have reported respiratory outcomes in former VLBW/VP late-adolescents,12,28,29 although few in young adults.3033 In general, the evidence suggests that VLBW/VP survivors, particularly if they had chronic neonatal lung disease, have reduced forced expiratory volume in 1 second, lower forced vital capacity, and decreased diffusing capacity. In our cohort at 7 to 8 years of age, we found that 32% had a diagnosis of asthma at the time of follow-up, with a signicant trend (P , .05) of greater risk of asthma with decreasing gestation.34 At 23 years the VLBW young adults were almost 3 times more likely than the controls to have experienced wheeze in the past 12 months (32% vs 12%; P = .02), with a greater proportion having a lifetime diagnosis of asthma, although this difference was now not signicant. An important nding for the VLBW young adults themselves was that relative to
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18.7 20.8 35.2 19.1 27.8 8.7

26.1 18.8 37.7 18.8 26.1 8.7

.18 .71 .71 .96 .76 1.00

TABLE 5 Physical Health and Growth

Measure Physical health Lifetime number of hospital admissions, mean (SD) Number of hospital attendances (past 12 months) , mean (SD) GP visits (past 12 months) , mean (SD) Lifetime number of severe/chronic illnesses, mean (SD) Number of severe/chronic illnesses (past 12 months), mean (SD) Asthma (lifetime), % Asthma (past 12 months), % Any wheeze (past 12 months), % Growth, mean (SD) Weight, kg Height, cm Waist circumference, cm BMI, kg/m2
CI, condence interval; GP, general practice.

VLBW Cohort (n = 230) 3.9 (18.1) 1.0 (3.2) 3.4 (5.2) 2.0 (1.5) 1.1 (1.2) 34.8 13.9 31.7 72.1 (17.0) 166.4 (9.7) 88.7 (14.1) 25.9 (5.7)

Term Controls (n = 69) 2.0 (3.7) 0.4 (0.9) 3.7 (5.1) 1.4 (1.3) 0.9 (0.9) 26.1 11.6 11.6 77.7 (16.4) 170.6 (10.5) 89.9 (12.9) 26.5 (4.9)

Mean/Percentage Difference (95% CI) 1.9 (20.6 to 4.4) 0.54 (0.07 to 1.01) 20.3 (21.7 to 1.1) 0.54 (0.20 to 0.89) 0.22 (20.04 to 0.47) 8.7 (24.1 to 19.6) 2.3 (28.1 to 9.9) 20.1 (9.0 to 28.6) 25.6 (210.2 to 21.0) 24.2 (26.9 to 21.5) 21.2 (24.9 to 2.5) 20.6 (22.1 to 0.9)

.07 .015 .59 .005 .12 .18 .62 .018 .016 ,.001 .54 .44

differences in outcome between VLBW and controls.

DISCUSSION
New Zealand VLBW young adults show clear differences in health, educational achievement, welfare dependency, and social engagement compared with controls. VLBW young adults were, on average, 5.6 kg lighter and 4.2 cm shorter than controls. The VLBW young adults less often had a university degree and were more likely to have either no

qualications or high school qualications only. They were less likely to be living independently. Approximately onequarter of the VLBW cohort and controls were daily smokers, and one-third of both groups used alcohol weekly and had used cannabis in the past year, but fewer VLBW graduates had ever used other illicit drugs or been arrested. In addition, they had a higher lifetime number of severe or chronic illnesses and were almost 3 times more likely to have been admitted to a hospital in the

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TABLE 6 Executive Functioning, Behavior, Quality of Life, and Overall Functioning

Measure BRIEF-A index, mean (SD) Behavioral regulation index T score Metacognition index T score Global executive composite T score ADHD/ODD symptoms, mean (SD) ADHD score ODD score SF-36 component scores (relative to 1824-year norms), % .1 SD below mean, physical component score .1 SD below mean, mental component score Overall functioning, mean (SD) Self-esteem Life satisfaction VLBW Cohort (n = 230) 52.9 (12.5) 51.0 (10.5) 52.0 (11.4) 8.4 (6.7) 3.1 (3.2) Term Controls (n = 69) 51.7 (9.3) 50.1 (8.0) 50.8 (8.2) 7.8 (5.3) 2.7 (2.8) Mean/Percentage Difference (95% CI) 1.2 (22.0 to 4.4) 0.9 (21.8 to 3.6) 1.2 (21.7 to 4.1) 0.6 (21.1 to 2.3) 0.4 (20.4 to 1.2) 2.5 (28.1 to 10.6) 2.1 (25.9 to 7.1) 20.1 (21.5 to 1.3) 20.5 (21.9 to 0.9) P

.45 .49 .40 .55 .45

POPS study cohort at age 19 years, found that VLBW survivors had greater difculty establishing social contacts but did not have elevated risks of psychopathology compared with their term-born peers. A limitation of our study is that we assessed both the VLBW cohort and controls by face-to-face interview only. Our follow-up included 71% of those known to be alive at 23 years. Young adulthood is a time of high mobility, and many members of our cohort are known to be overseas, such trips still being a right of passage for many young New Zealanders. There were, however, no differences in the basic demographic characteristics of those who did and did not participate in our study. Our follow-up rate is comparable to that reported in most international studies. For example, in the highly informative Helsinki Study32,4749 there were 474 consecutive VLBW admissions to the regional NICU from January 1978 to December 1985; 335 were discharged alive, 95% survivors were traced, 255 residing in the Helsinki area were invited to participate, and 166 did so (50% overall). The Netherlands POPS study at 19 years achieved 62% follow-up,45 and studies of pulmonary function in late adolescence in VP infants from Melbourne, Australia, included 74% of survivors.29 Despite the relatively positive ndings, it will be important to objectively assess health and neuropsychological functioning in the cohort, and we are currently undertaking a battery of medical and neuropsychological investigations at age 26 to 27 years. Knowledge of the range of health issues faced by VLBW young adults will inform future neonatal care in general and in New Zealand and will guide multidisciplinary intervention and provision of medical care and social support in childhood and adolescence.

15.7 6.5

13.2 4.4

.62 .52

31.7 (5.1) 41.6 (5.2)

31.8 (4.6) 42.1 (5.1)

.88 .52

ADHD, attention-decit/hyperactivity disorder; BRIEF-A, Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive FunctionAdult Version; ODD, oppositional deant disorder; SF-36, Short Form 36 Health Survey, version 2.

their term peers, there were no signicant differences on the Short Form 36 physical or mental component scores or on measures of perceived overall functioning, self-esteem, or life satisfaction. Similar ndings have been reported previously for self-reported quality-of-life scores, even when scores obtained from parents or other observers have been lower than those for controls.16,3539 Our report is the rst, to our knowledge, from New Zealand to document outcomes for former VLBW infants in young adulthood. Those of Maori descent, the indigenous population in New Zealand, were overrepresented in the cohort with 23% of mothers recording Maori ethnicity compared with 13% of all births in 1986. At follow-up, 26.5% of the cohort identied themselves as Maori and 5.7% as of Pacic Island descent. Overall, consistent with national data, Maori participants had poorer educational qualications, higher welfare dependence, higher suicidal ideation/attempt, arrest/conviction, cannabis use, daily smoking, higher rates of pregnancy/parenthood, and higher BMI scores. However the number of Maori participants in the control group was too small to draw useful conclusions regarding the size of VLBW/control differences for Maori and non-Maori participants.
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Strengths of our study include that it is a national cohort, more than half of whom received antenatal steroids, and that an assessment had been made in middle childhood. Data from other countries are now revealing a range of functional and health-related challenges faced by former VLBW infants in late adolescence and early adulthood.11,12 However, most cohorts were born in the 1970s or early 1980s when few infants received antenatal steroids and so may be less representative of modern neonatal intensive care than our study. Whereas antenatal steroids reduce mortality by 40%,40 it is interesting that in this study receipt of antenatal steroids had no effect on any long-term outcomes. In addition, in New Zealand few infants of #23 wk gestation were offered NICU care in 1986, which largely remains the case with contemporary care. Many studies in other countries have been hospital based and so may be subject to a degree of bias. Of the few population-based studies, most are regional or rely on constrained national registry data.4144 The study that is most similar to ours is the Netherlands Project on Preterm and Small for Gestational Age Infants study in VLBW/VP infants born in 1983.45,46 As in our study, Hille et al,46 reporting from the

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CONCLUSIONS We have shown that, whereas New Zealand VLBW young adults do experience lower levels of educational achievement and greater social isolation, there are no

differences on many measures of health and social functioning, and the young people themselves report similar overall life functioning and quality of life to their same age peers.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We thank Mrs Nina Mogridge and Mrs Nicki McNeill for assistance in tracing the cohort. We also thank the young adults who participated in the study.

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Psychosocial Outcomes of Young Adults Born Very Low Birth Weight Brian A. Darlow, L. John Horwood, Huia M. Pere-Bracken and Lianne J. Woodward Pediatrics 2013;132;e1521; originally published online November 18, 2013; DOI: 10.1542/peds.2013-2024
Updated Information & Services Supplementary Material including high resolution figures, can be found at: http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/132/6/e1521.full. html Supplementary material can be found at: http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/suppl/2013/11/1 2/peds.2013-2024.DCSupplemental.html This article cites 44 articles, 16 of which can be accessed free at: http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/132/6/e1521.full. html#ref-list-1 This article, along with others on similar topics, appears in the following collection(s): Gynecology http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/collection/gynecolog y_sub Maternal and Fetal Medicine http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/collection/maternal_f etal_med_sub Psychiatry/Psychology http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/collection/psychiatry _psychology_sub Information about reproducing this article in parts (figures, tables) or in its entirety can be found online at: http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/site/misc/Permissions.xh tml Information about ordering reprints can be found online: http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/site/misc/reprints.xhtml

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