Weight, length, and head circumference at 36 weeks are not predictive of later cognitive impairment in very preterm infants

• DOI: 10.1038/s41372-020-00855-0
• Publication Date: 2020-10-09T12:03:09Z
• Authors: Tanis R. Fenton; Roseann Nasser; Dianne Creighton; Selphee Tang; Reg Sauve; Denise Bilan; Carol J. Fenton; Misha Eliasziw
• Keywords: Cohort Studies; 03 medical and health sciences; 0302 clinical medicine; Cephalometry; Child, Preschool; Infant, Newborn; Humans; Infant; Infant, Very Low Birth Weight; Cognitive Dysfunction; Infant, Premature

To assess diagnostic accuracy of 36-week anthropometric weight, length, and head circumference <10th and <3rd percentiles to predict preterm infant cognitive impairment.Cohort study of 898 preterm <30-week very-low-birth weight (<1500 g) infants. Anthropometric measures' accuracy to predict cognitive impairment (Bayley-III Cognitive Composite score) <80, 21-months corrected age (CA) and Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence Quotient (intellectual outcomes) <70, 36-months CA, were determined using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves.Thirty-six-week weight, length or head circumference <10th or <3rd percentile did not predict cognitive impairment; areas under ROC curves were <0.6. Sensitivities and specificities for 10th and 3rd percentile cut points were all poor, with most not exceeding 70%, whether the Fenton 2013 or INTERGROWTH 2015 growth charts were used. Brain injury and low maternal education were better predictors of cognitive impairment.Preterm infant 36-week anthropometric measurements are not accurate predictors of cognitive impairment.