Neurodevelopmental assessment of very low birth weight preterm infants at corrected age of 18-24 months by Bayley III scales [Avaliação do neurodesenvolvimento de prematuros de muito baixo peso ao nascer entre 18 e 24 meses de idade corrigida pelas escalas Bayley III]

Objective: to evaluate the prevalence of delay and factors associated with neurodevelopmental scores in premature infants. methods: cross-sectional study to assess the development by bayley scales iii,including very low birth weight preterm infants aged 18 to 24 months who were under follow-up at the outpatient clinic for preterm infants. congenital malformation,genetic syndrome,symptomatic congenital infection at birth,deafness,and blindness were excluded. numerical variables were compared by mann-whitney or student t test and categorical variables by chi-square or fisher's exact test. factors associated with developmental scores were analyzed by linear regression,and statistical significance level was established at p < 0.05. results: out of the 58 children included,four (6.9%) presented cognitive delay,four (6.9%) motor,17 (29.3%) language,16 (27.6%) social-emotional and 22 (37.0%) adaptive-behavior delay. by multiple linear regression,the variables: social classes cde (-13.27; 95%ci: -21.23 to -5.31),oxygen dependency at 36 weeks of corrected age (-8.75; 95%ci: -17.10 to -0.39) decreased the cognitive developmental score. periventricular leukomalacia decreased the cognitive (-15.21; 95%ci: -27.61 to -2.81),motor (-10.67; 95%ci:-19.74 to -1.59) and adaptivebehavior scores (-21.52; 95%ci: -35.60 to -7.44). the female sex was associated with higher motor (10.67; 95%ci: 2.77 to 12.97),language (15.74; 95%ci: 7.39 to 24.09) and social-emotional developmental scores (10.27; 95%ci: 1.08 to 19.46). conclusions: very low birth weight preterm infants aged from 18 to 24 months of corrected age presented more frequently language,social-emotional and adaptive-behavior delays. the variables: social classes cde,periventricular leukomalacia,bronchopulmonary dysplasia and male sex reduced the neurodevelopmental scores. copyright © 2012 by sociedade brasileira de pediatria.