Prachi Shah
University of Michigan, USA
Title: Gestational age and kindergarten school readiness in a nationally representative sample of preterm infants
Biography
Biography: Prachi Shah
Abstract
Objective: To examine the association of gestational age with poor school readiness in kindergarten reading and math skills. We hypothesized that compared to infants born at 39-41 weeks; infants born at lower gestational ages would have poorer school readiness.
Study Design: Sample included 5250 children from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort (ECLS-B), assessed with specialized reading and math assessments at kindergarten. Poor school readiness was characterized by reading and math theta scores ≥1.5 SD below the sample mean. The adjusted odds ratios (aOR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) of poor school readiness were estimated using multivariate logistic regression, examining gestational age continuously and categorically (very preterm (VPT), moderate/late preterm (M/LPT), early term (ET) and term). Pairwise comparisons tested for differences by gestational age categories.
Results: There was an association between gestational age and poor school readiness for reading and math with suggestion of a threshold effect in children born ≥32 weeks gestation. In adjusted models, the odds of poor school readiness in VPT reading and math were aOR=2.58, 95% CI [1.29-5.15] and aOR=3.38, 95% CI [1.66-6.91], respectively. However, for infants born M/LPT and ET, the odds of poor school readiness in reading did not differ from children born full-term.
Conclusions: Compared with term infants, the highest odds of poor school readiness in reading and math were seen in VPT infants, with lower odds of poor school readiness in children born ≥32 weeks gestation. Ongoing developmental surveillance prior to kindergarten is indicated for very preterm infants.