Development and morbidity during the first year of lifein the group of preterm delivered newborns

Aim of the study: To determine the influence of pregnancy complications and prematurity, on the psychophysical development and morbidity during the first year of life in the group of newborns with a birth weight below 2500 g.
Method: The study was performed in the group of 90 randomly chosen newborns with birth weight <2500 g. Following parameters were evaluated: pregnancy complications, causes of preterm delivery, complications of neonatal age, psychophysical development during the infantile age. The investigated group of children was divided into three subgroups: newborns with low (1500–2500 g), very low (1000–1500 g) and extremely low (below 1000 g) birth weight. Randomly selected newborns with a birth weight equal or higher than 2500 g made up a control group.
Results: Low birth weight was independent factors, significantly (p<0,05) correlated with a delay of psychophysical development and occurrence of complications during the neonatal and infantile age; i. e. higher frequency and longer administration of antibiotics, intubation, therapy with oxygen, higher levels of serum bilirubin elevated for longer time. There were significant differences in the psychomotor development between investigated group of children (as well as in comparison with the control group) in the 3rd and the 6th month of life. However, at the age of 12 months life the differences observed were not significant.