Abstract :
Keywords Extremely premature infant; Mental health; RAND-36; Preterm adults; Long-term outcome; Quality of life; Cohort studies; Self-report; Anxiety Highlights * Extremely premature born adults reported more internalising problems at 27 years then term-born. * Over time the extremely premature born adults reported more mental health problems then term-born. * Health-related quality of life was similar for extremely premature born and term-born adults. * Extremely premature birth should be considered a high-risk factor for poor mental health in adulthood. Abstract Background Survival of extremely preterm (EP) birth is increasing, but long-term consequences are still largely unknown as their high survival rates are recent achievements. Aims To examine self-reported mental health, and health related quality of life (HRQoL) in a cohort of adults born EP in the early 1990s and individually matched term-born controls, and to describe development through the transition from teenager to adults. Methods Thirty-five eligible subjects were born at gestational age [less than or equal to] 28 weeks or with birth weight [less than or equal to] 1000 g during 1991--1992 in this population-based cohort from Western Norway. We assessed mental health using Youth Self-Report (YSR) at 18 years of age, and Adult Self-Report (ASR) at 27 years, and HRQoL by RAND-36 at 27 years. Data were analysed by unadjusted and adjusted mixed effects models with time by group as interaction term. Results At 27 years, 24 (69 %) EP-born and 26 (74 %) term-born controls participated. Scores for internalising problems, and syndrome scale anxious/depressed and withdrawn were higher among EP-born compared to term-born controls. For HRQoL, scores were similar in EP-born and term-born groups, except the domain physical functioning where EP-born scored lower. Development over time from 18 to 27 years showed increasing (i.e. deteriorating) scores for internalising, anxious/depressed, somatic complaints, and attention problems in the EP born group. For the term-born, scores for anxious/depression increased over time. Conclusions At 27 years of age, EP-born adults reported more internalising problems than term-born controls, while HRQoL was relatively similar except physical functioning. Mental health problems in the EP-born increased from adolescence to adulthood. Abbreviations GA, gestational age; EP, extremely preterm; YSR, Youth Self-Report; ASR, Adult Self-Report; HRQoL, Health-related Quality of Life; VP, very preterm; VLBW, very low birthweight; BW, birthweight; TB, term-born; NICU, neonatal intensive care unit; ADM, assessment data manager Author Affiliation: (a) Department of Paediatric and Adolescent Medicine, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway (b) Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway (c) The Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Bergen, Norway (d) Department of Clinical Science, Faculty of Medicine, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway (e) Centre for Clinical Research, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway * Corresponding author at: Department of Paediatric and Adolescent Medicine, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway. Article History: Received 13 June 2022; Revised 23 August 2022; Accepted 24 August 2022 Byline: Merete Røineland Benestad [Merete.roineland.benestad@helse-bergen.no] (a,b,*), Jorunn Drageset (b,c), Karl Ove Hufthammer (e), Maria Vollsæter (a,d), Thomas Halvorsen (d), Bente Johanne Vederhus (a,c)