A longitudinal study of cognitive and educational outcomes of those born small for gestational age

AIM This study examined the long-term cognitive and educational outcomes of being born small for gestational age (SGA) and assessed whether the family's attitude towards education modified the effect of being born SGA on educational attainment. METHODS We used anonymised data on 9598 individuals from the Stockholm Birth Cohort. This study focused on babies born in 1953 in the Stockholm metropolitan area, who were followed up for 50 years, and included educational data at the age of 13 and 48. Ordinary least squares regression analyses, modification analyses and logistic regression analyses were conducted. RESULTS The findings suggested that individuals who were born SGA (n = 798) had lower mean verbal, spatial and numerical test scores than those born appropriate for gestational age (AGA) (n = 7364) and large for gestational age (n = 1436). The SGA/AGA differences were small, but statistically significant, and the effects of being born SGA on the test scores was modified by the family's attitude towards education. The findings also suggested that attaining higher education was largely, but not entirely, explained by the family's attitude towards education. CONCLUSION The detrimental effects of being born SGA were limited on cognitive and educational outcomes, but may have been reduced by positive family attitudes.