Background characteristics and risk factors of the 115 ELBW children attending follow-up assessment at 11 years of age and the 57 non-participants
| Participants | Non-participants | P value | |
| Background characteristics | |||
| Male | 53 (46%) | 28 (49%) | 0.747 |
| Multiparity | 28 (24%) | 20 (35%) | 0.152 |
| Maternal education level | |||
| Lower education level | 40 (35%) | 23 (40%) | 0.504 |
| Higher education level | 75 (65%) | 34 (60%) | |
| Clinical risk factors | |||
| Birth weight, g | 806 (136) 447–995 | 796 (138) 520–995 | 0.673 |
| Gestational age, weeks | 27.2 (1.9) 23.4–32.9 | 27.3 (2.0) 22.3–32.6 | 0.647 |
| Gestational age <27 weeks | 60 (52%) | 28 (49%) | 0.747 |
| Small for GA | 55 (48%) | 32 (56%) | 0.334 |
| Antenatal steroid treatment | 93 (81%) | 47 (83%) | 0.839 |
| Surfactant treatment | 71/113 (63%) | 37/57 (65%) | 0.867 |
| Respiratory distress syndrome | 80/114 (70%) | 45/57 (79%) | 0.274 |
| Sepsis | 32/114 (28%) | 16/57 (28%) | 1.00 |
| IVH, grades 3–4 | 6/113 (5%) | 6/55 (11%) | 0.210 |
| Retinopathy of prematurity, stages 3–4 | 11/115 (10%) | 4/56 (7%) | 0.776 |
| Perforated necrotising enterocolitis | 7/114 (6%) | 3/57 (5%) | 1.00 |
| Need for oxygen treatment at GA 36 weeks | 44/115 (38%) | 24/57 (42%) | 0.741 |
| Outcome at 5 years | |||
| Incidence of cerebral palsy at 5 years | 11/115 (10%) | 11/57 (19%) | 0.090 |
| FSIQ at 5 years | 98.3 (21.3) 39–139 | 89.4 (19.0) 39–127 | 0.009 |
Data presented as mean (SD) and range, or as n (%).
ELBW, extremely low birthweight; FSIQ, Full-Scale Intelligence Quotient; GA, gestational age; IVH, intraventricular haemorrhage.