Developmental Outcomes of Premature and Low Birth Weight Infants

Background: Prematurity is the most common cause of death and disability And Preterm infants, are prone to developmental complications. For this reason this study was designed for follow up of these babies until 2 years by modified DDST-2. Methods: This study was a prospective longitudinal descriptive study from March 2009 to March 2011 in clinic of sheikh and Imam Reza Hospitals, mashhad, Iran. Sample size with Confidence coefficient of 95% and power 80%, was determined 100 hundred babies. Infants were seen by a pediatrician at a follow up clinic at 1, 3, 6, 9,12,15,18, 24, months.The developmental assessment was done using Denver-2 Developmental Screening Test. Results: mean age for smiling was 4/6 ± 2/1  months which significantly differed with appropriate age (p = 0.000), mean age for telling two syllables words 11/7±  1/9 months, without significant difference of appropriate age.(p = 0.139). Average age for understanding NO was 10/4±  2/0 months that significantly differed with appropriate age(p = 0.000). The average age for telling 6 word was 17/8±  3/0, without significant difference with appropriate age (p = 0.510). Conclusion: Children with history of prematurity and low birth weight have more disability and developmental delay so they need to developmental screening tests.