Abstract

This study aimed to discover whether children who are born very preterm, < 32 weeks gestational age, are at an increased risk of developmental co-ordination disorder (DCD), when compared to children born at full term. The preterm cohort consisted of children who were born in the Liverpool postal code region during 1991-1992, who were at mainstream school, followed up at age 7 or 8 years. Children were assessed alongside age, sex and classmate control children, who were born at full term > 37 weeks. A total of 280 preterm subject children, and 210 controls were assessed. Motor function was assessed using the Movement ABC, (with the 5th %ile used as the cut off point to define DCD), the VMI to test visual motor integration function, and the WISC IIIR UK, to screen intelligence levels. There were highly significant statistical differences between the subject and control groups on all of the standardised assessments (p=<0.001). The incidence of DCD in the preterm group was 30.7% (n=86), compared to 6.7% (n=14) in the control population. Total, verbal and performance IQ results were lower in the preterm group (p=<0.001), however there was a correlation between poor fine motor skills, and problems with visual motor integration and performance IQ scores, and ultimately total IQ. Our research has demonstrated that preterm children are significantly more likely to develop DCD, and associated performance and intelligence difficulties, than children who were born at full term. These difficulties may ultimately affect school performance and activities of daily living, so further research is required into the benefits of suitable intervention.