Article

Children born preterm (at </=32wks) are at risk of developing deficits in
reading ability. This meta-analysis aims to determine whether or not school-aged
preterm children perform worse than those born at term in single-word reading
(decoding) and reading comprehension. METHOD: Electronic databases were searched
for studies published between 2000 and 2013, which assessed decoding or reading
comprehension performance in English-speaking preterm and term-born children aged
between 6 years and 13 years, and born after 1990. Standardized mean differences
in decoding and reading comprehension scores were calculated. RESULTS: Nine
studies were suitable for analysis of decoding, and five for analysis of reading
comprehension. Random-effects meta-analyses showed that children born preterm had
significantly lower scores (reported as Cohen's d values [d] with 95% confidence
intervals [CIs]) than those born at term for decoding (d=-0.42, 95% CI -0.57 to
-0.27, p<0.001) and reading comprehension (d=-0.57, 95% CI -0.68 to -0.46,
p<0.001). Meta-regressions showed that lower gestational age was associated with
larger differences in decoding (Q[1]=5.92, p=0.02) and reading comprehension
(Q[1]=4.69, p=0.03) between preterm and term groups. Differences between groups
increased with age for reading comprehension (Q[1]=5.10, p=0.02) and, although
not significant, there was also a trend for increased group differences for
decoding (Q[1]=3.44, p=0.06). INTERPRETATION: Preterm children perform worse than
peers born at term on decoding and reading comprehension. These findings suggest
that preterm children should receive more ongoing monitoring for reading
difficulties throughout their education.
CI - (c) 2014 Mac Keith Press.

Langue : ANGLAIS