Background:

There is evidence linking prematurity with alterations in neurodevelopment and negative outcomes in mental health. To date, there have been no studies caried out on the subject in Colombia.

Method:

A cross-sectional study was carried out in order to analyze a random sample of 96 preschool children's clinical records (p=0.05) from the Central Military Hospital in Bogotá, Colombia, excluding neurological injuries unrelated to the neonatal period, such as consequences of traumatic brain injury, brain malformations, identified genetic syndromes, and child abuse. The abbreviated scale of development (EAD-1) and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) were applied and sociodemographic data was obtained.

Results:

Positive and statistically significant correlations were found between gestational age and most of the neurodevelopmental subscales, except for the coarse motor subscale (p=0.063): fine/adaptive (p=0.019), hearing/language (p=0.011), and personal/social (p=0.041); and, similarly, between birth weight and most of the neurodevelopmental subscales, except for the coarse motor subscale (p=0.60): fine/adaptive (p=0.007), hearing/language (p=0.010), and personal/social (p=0.010). The latter had the highest correlation of all.

Conclusions:

This study shows that children which were born prematurely have an increased risk of developmental problems, especially those whose birth weight was lower than 1500 grams or those who had had a gestational age of less than 32 weeks; in turn, correlating the neurodevelopment alterations with behavioral alterations in the group of children studied. There are not many reports related to health care and rehabilitation during infancy for children born prematurely. Given that the Central Military Hospital is a hospital with a high-risk neurological follow-up program, the results suggest that early identification of neurodevelopmental disorders and their risk factors, as well as timely intervention, are important for continued care of this population.

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