Article

Very-low-birthweight (VLBW ; birthweight<1500 g and/or gestational age <32
wks) children are at risk for speech problems. However, there are few studies on
speech development in VLBW children at an early age.
The aim of this study was to
investigate phonological development in 2-year-old VLBW children. METHOD: Twenty
VLBW children without major neurosensory impairment (7 males, 13 females; mean
birthweight 971 g, SD 315; mean gestational age 28 wks, SD 1.81) and 20 term
children (7 males, 13 females; mean birthweight 3503 g, SD 416; mean gestational
age 40 wks, SD 1.26) were compared on measures of phonological development
derived from 20-minute spontaneous speech samples of standardized mother-child
play interaction as well as on standardized tests of cognitive and psychomotor
development, language, and behaviour. RESULTS: VLBW children had significantly
fewer acquired consonants (median 9, p=0.02) and a significantly lower
phonological mean length of utterance (pMLU; median 4.1, p<0.01) than term
children (median acquired consonants 10, median pMLU 5.0). INTERPRETATION: This
study provides evidence for poor phonological development in even healthy VLBW
children, compared with term-matched children, independent of their cognitive,
psychomotor, and language development, and their behavioural functioning.

Langue : ANGLAIS