A recent study led by Dr. H. Gerry Taylor, University Hospitals Case Medical Center, Cleveland, revealed that preterm children are at high risk of having learning difficulties, although their intellectual abilities may be equal to those of children delivered at the end of the normal nine-month period. The findings, published in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, say that increased survival rate of preemies due to modern techniques is not necessarily an indicator of future normal development.

The 148 preemies participating in the study were compared to 111 of their normally-born peers. As it turns out, their colleagues got higher marks on spelling and mathematics tests. Additionally, more than half of the children born prematurely had not managed to grasp basic arithmetic, while the other group’s percentage was much lower, 21% on average. Dr. Taylor told Reuters that preemies should be constantly monitored as they grow up and also follow a special educational plan.

Twenty months in their development, children born very early may already experience visible learning difficulties: ‘The study was designed to really focus on kindergarten because of the importance of identifying problems early and hopefully intervening to stave off problems that might develop,’ said Taylor.

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