Assessment of the global intelligence and selective cognitive capacities in preterm 8-year-old children

The aim of this study was to assess various cognitive abilities such as attention, IQ, reasoning, and memory related to academic achievement in 8- and 9-year-old preterm children. A total of 141 children were assessed. The preterm group (= 37 weeks) comprised 63 children and was compared to 78 fullterm children. Attention was evaluated using the d2 Selective Attention test, and the IQ by the L-M form of the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale, establishing a profi le of abilities: perception, memory, comprehension, reasoning, and verbal fl uency. Signifi cant differences in IQ were found between the preterm and full-term children. Of the cognitive abilities assessed, the only signifi cant differences were found in verbal fl uency, with preterm boys showing lower verbal fl uency scores than full-term children. In conclusion, all preterm groups have attention ability similar to that of full-term children. However, preterm children obtain lower scores in intelligence measures. In addition, preterm boys have verbal fl uency diffi culties. Taking into account the increase in preterm births, suitable intervention programs must be planned to attend the diffi culties found.