Evidence map›Paper›PMID 28847871›Full record

SynthesisArchives of disease in childhood. Fetal and neonatal edition2018

Academic performance of children born preterm: a meta-analysis and meta-regression.

E Sabrina Twilhaar, Jorrit F de Kieviet, Cornelieke Sh Aarnoudse-Moens, Ruurd M van Elburg, Jaap Oosterlaan

Abstract readMeta-Analysis
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Archives of disease in childhood. Fetal and neonatal edition, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 83 papers, 11 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
83citing papers in PubMed, 11 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

83 citing papers in PubMed, 11 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Early Marriage, Preterm Birth, and School Dropout: An Intergenerational Cycle of Risk?American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council · 2025
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  18. Docosahexaenoic Acid and Arachidonic Acid Supplementation and Sleep in Toddlers Born Preterm: Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial.Journal of clinical sleep medicine : JCSM : official publication of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine · 2019
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23 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

E Sabrina TwilhaarClinical Neuropsychology Section, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7912-9883
Jorrit F de KievietClinical Neuropsychology Section, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Cornelieke Sh Aarnoudse-MoensClinical Neuropsychology Section, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Ruurd M van ElburgEmma Children's Hospital AMC, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Jaap OosterlaanClinical Neuropsychology Section, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAdvances in neonatal healthcare have resulted in decreased mortality after preterm birth but have not led to parallel decreases in morbidity. Academic performance provides insight in the outcomes and specific difficulties and needs of preterm children.

objectiveTo study academic performance in preterm children born in the antenatal steroids and surfactant era and possible moderating effects of perinatal and demographic factors.

designPubMed, Web of Science and PsycINFO were searched for peer-reviewed articles. Cohort studies with a full-term control group reporting standardised academic performance scores of preterm children (<37 weeks of gestation) at age 5 years or older and born in the antenatal steroids and surfactant era were included. Academic test scores and special educational needs of preterm and full-term children were analysed using random effects meta-analysis. Random effects meta-regressions were performed to explore the predictive role of perinatal and demographic factors for between-study variance in effect sizes.

resultsThe 17 eligible studies included 2390 preterm children and 1549 controls. Preterm children scored 0.71 SD below full-term peers on arithmetic (p<0.001), 0.44 and 0.52 SD lower on reading and spelling (p<0.001) and were 2.85 times more likely to receive special educational assistance (95% CI 2.12 to 3.84, p<0.001). Bronchopulmonarydysplasia explained 44% of the variance in academic performance (p=0.006).

conclusionPreterm children born in the antenatal steroids and surfactant era show considerable academic difficulties. Preterm children with bronchopulmonarydysplasia are at particular risk for poor academic outcome.

Indexed as

Infant, PrematureAcademic PerformanceCase-Control StudiesChildDevelopmental DisabilitiesFemaleHumansInfant, NewbornMaleRegression AnalysisRisk Factorsneonatologyneurodevelopmentoutcomes research

Identifiers

PMID28847871
PMCPMC6047144

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.