Quality of life characteristics in children born prematurely with extremely low and very low birth weight at different stages of childhood

Objective: to study the quality of life (QoL) of children born prematurely with extremely low (ELBW) and very low body weight (VLBW), in the age aspect. Material and methods. In the stage 1 of the study, the QoL of 50 (Qualite de vie du Nourisson questionnaire) preterm infants (PI) (18 children with ELBW at birth, 32 with VLBW) and 20 full-term peers (control group) were studied at 3, 6, 9 months (corrected age for PI), 1 year (corrected age for PI), 2 and 3 years of life. In stage 2, the QoL (Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory questionnaire) examined of 40 PI aged 9-12 years compared to 20 full-term infants of the control group. The main group consisted of 14 children with ELBW and 26 children with VLBW at birth. Results. In the first three years of life, the QoL of PI is significantly lower than that of full-term, while in children with a birth weight of less than 1000 g at 2 and 3 years of life, it is significantly lower than in PI born with VLBW. Positive age-related dynamics of QoL was demonstrated. Disagreements between pediatricians and parents in the allocation of leading aspects of QoL in PI were revealed. At 9-12 years of age, the effect of body weight on QoL remained relevant for children with ELBW at birth, as assessed by the children themselves, and as assessed by parents for the entire PI group. Conclusion. The results obtained indicate a significant effect of birth weight on the quality of life of children born prematurely with VLBW and ELBW, in infancy, early and school age, which dictates the need to introduce this indicator as an integral criterion for monitoring their health status.