Washington, Sept 9 (ANI): Premature babies are four times more likely to have emotional problems or behavioural disorders later in life than their peers, according to a new study.
The research led by the University of Warwick examined the behaviour of 200 six-year-old children who had been born below 26 weeks gestation, known as 'extremely pre-term'.
The team compared the behaviour of these extremely pre-term children with a control group of a similar age. They used reports filed by parents and teachers to test whether extremely pre-term children had more pervasive behaviour problems (described by both teachers and parents).
The researchers found 30.6 percent of pre-term children were hyperactive, compared to 8.8 percent in the full-term group, and 33.3 percent of pre-term children displayed attention problems, compared to 6.8 percent.
They highlighted a distinction between genders in the pre-term group.
Boys born prematurely showed a higher degree of behaviour problems, such as ADHD, and girls experienced more internalising disorders such as anxiety and depression.
The study also showed that extremely pre-term boys were more vulnerable to behavioural problems, and they had a greater impact on parents and teachers than extremely pre-term girls.
Professor of Developmental Psychology at Warwick Medical School, Dr Dieter Wolke said: "In this cohort of pre-term children we found a considerable excess of behaviour difficulties, including problems in a range of domains such as emotion, hyperactivity, attention and peer relationship problems.
"Parents and teachers agreed these behaviour problems had a considerable impact on home and school life for 23 percent of the pre-term group."(ANI)
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