Impacto da prematuridade no desenvolvimento cognitivo em crianças em idade escolar

Abstract

The interruption of the gestacional course is an important risk factor for the development of functional capabilities and cognitive deficits. However, there is a lack of nacional studies that feature overall IQ and executive functions in preterm school-aged children. In this context, this study objective was to verify the impact of prematurity in school-aged children's cognitive development. To achieve this, two studies were conducted, one theoretical and the other one empirical. The theoretical study consists of a systematic review that describes empirical data on the general IQ and/or executive functions in preterm and full-term controls children. WISC was the most used scale to assess the overall IQ, with 41,66% of selected papers. There was wide variability of instruments used to evaluate the Executive Functions. Few studies indicate the measures and the intensity of the relation between two variables. The empirical study, in turn, considered the effects of premature birth in preterm and control children. A quantitative survey was conducted with cross-sectional design of contrasting groups composed of 111 children (62 preterm and 49 full-term), aged between 7 and 13 years old (M=9,68, SD=13,68) born in south Brazil (Rio Grande do Sul). The results support the hypothesis that interruption of gestational development increases the risk of difficulties in academic performance, EF and overall IQ. In addition, associated factors (breastfeeding, pre-school, socioeconomic level) lead to deterioration in cognitive development.