Early Life Neurodevelopment of Infants Across a Wide Gestational Age Range.
Peggy H Y Chan, C M Lai, H S Lam and 1 others
PMID 40864546WHAT IT FOUND
Each extra week in the womb linked to tiny gains in infant development.
The effect was smallest for term babies but grew larger for preterm infants. Regular monitoring is advised for all preterm and early term babies.
Key findings
01Adjusted scores for cognitive, language, and motor development increased with each additional week of gestational age.
02The association with gestational age was statistically significant for receptive communication delay, but not for other domains after adjustment.
03The study population excluded infants with known neurological abnormalities or failed hearing screens.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study excluded infants with severe morbidities or known disabilities, so findings may not apply to the highest-risk preterm populations. Participants were predominantly from higher-income households, with only 10% from families earning less than the local median threshold, limiting generalizability to low-income groups. Follow-up ended at 30 months, so it is unknown if the small differences in scores persist, diminish, or widen in older childhood. Medical history was self-reported by parents, which may have led to incomplete data on clinical covariates like infections or ventilator use.
Declared interests
The authors declare no commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the small weekly point gains as clinically meaningful for every infant. The authors state the effect is around 0.04 standard deviations per week, which may not translate to noticeable functional differences in term or early term babies.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →