Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Published: November 2021
AI Article Synopsis
Article Abstract
Objective: To identify attention profiles at 7 and 13 years, and transitions in attention profiles over time in children born very preterm (VP; <30 weeks' gestation) and full term (FT), and examine predictors of attention profiles and transitions.
Methods: Participants were 167 VP and 60 FT children, evaluated on profiles across five attention domains (selective, shifting and divided attention, processing speed, and behavioral attention) at 7 and 13 years using latent profile analyses. Transitions in profiles were assessed with contingency tables. For VP children, biological and social risk factors were tested as predictors with a multinomial logistic regression.
Results: At 7 and 13 years, three distinct profiles of attentional functioning were identified. VP children were 2-3 times more likely to show poorer attention profiles compared with FT children. Transition patterns between 7 and 13 years were stable average, stable low, improving, and declining attention. VP children were two times less likely to have a stable average attention pattern and three times more likely to have stable low or improving attention patterns compared with FT children. Groups did not differ in declining attention patterns. For VP children, brain abnormalities on neonatal MRI and greater social risk at 7 years predicted stable low or changing attention patterns over time.
Conclusions: VP children show greater variability in attention profiles and transition patterns than FT children, with almost half of the VP children showing adverse attention patterns over time. Early brain pathology and social environment are markers for attentional functioning.
Infant undernutrition, defined by length- and weight-based indices, is common in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), but corresponding deficits in head size have received less attention. In a cohort of term newborns in Dhaka, Bangladesh, we compared the severity of deficits (vs. World Health Organization Growth Standards) in head circumference (HC), length and weight at birth and every 3 months until 2 years of age (n range across timepoints: 843-920).
Background: Children born very preterm (VPT; <32 weeks) are at increased risk of executive functioning (EF) difficulties. But less is known about the nature and extent of these executive difficulties during late adolescence, particularly across multiple EF domains and in response to varying degrees of executive demand.
Methods: Using data from a prospective longitudinal study, this paper describes the EF profiles of 92 VPT and 68 full-term (FT) adolescents at age 17 years.
Background: Early initiation of breastfeeding is defined as giving breast milk to the newborn within one hour of birth. It strengthens the link between mother and child, promotes cognitive development, and lowers the chance of obesity and non-communicable diseases during the prime years of life. Nowadays, only 50% of newborns worldwide receive breast milk within their first hour of life.
Introduction: Low birth weight, defined as a birth weight below 2,500 g, represents a significant public health concern with a multifactorial risk dimension. Socio-demographic factors and individual characteristics of women and their social environment could influence low birth weight. This study aimed to analyze the association between the socio-demographic and reproductive characteristics of women living in low-income households and low birth weight in Serbia, Kosovo, and Montenegro.
Objective: To evaluate the differences in the antenatal and neonatal courses of maternal-infant dyads within a homeless population as compared to the general hospital population.
Design: This was a retrospective observational study.
Setting: A large single tertiary maternity hospital (8500 deliveries/year) in Ireland.
