Growth patterns over 2 years after birth according to birth weight and length percentiles in children born preterm

Abstract

Purpose: To analyze growth patterns over 2 years after birth according to preterm infant birth weight and length percentiles. Methods: Anthropometric measurements of 82 preterm infants were retrospectively reviewed. Preterm infants with birth weight or length below the 10th percentile were classified as small for gestational age (SGA) (n=19) and those between the 10th and 89th percentile as appropriate for gestational age (AGA) (n=63). The association between the length standard deviation score (SDS) at 2 years of corrected age and clinical factors were analyzed. Results: The length SDS of the SGA group was significantly increased at 6 months (-1.30±1.71) and 24 months (-0.97±1.06) of corrected age. The length SDS was lower in the SGA group than those in the AGA group at 6 months (-1.30±1.71 vs.-0.25±1.15, P=0.004), 18 months (-0.97±1.39 vs.-0.03±1.29, P=0.015), and 24 months (-0.97±1.06 vs.-0.29±1.12, P=0.022,). The percentage of children with a length SDS of