[Influence of prematurity and intrauterine hypotrophy on development of infants in the Szczecin population].

Longitudinal evaluation of development at the infantile period involved 415 children, born during the period from 1985.12.01 to 1987.03.31 in two Obstetric Clinics, PMA, in Szczecin. The studied group comprised 108 eutrophic premature infants, 25 premature babies with hypotrophy, 116 full-term neonates with intrauterine hypotrophy. The control group was made up of 166 infants born at term, being eutrophic neonates. Physical development was analyzed on the basis of measuring 13 anthropometric parameters, determined in monthly compartments. Evaluation of psychomotoric development was performed by the aid of Denver's test in the 3, 6, 9 and 12 month of life. The accomplished studies have disclosed that delays in physical and psychomotor development persisted still in the 12th month of life in children of the investigated group as compared with the control one. Retardations in somatic development were more pronounced in children with hypotrophy, while disturbances in psychomotor development were recorded more frequently in premature infants, and involved spheres of locomotion and visual-motorial coordination. In the studied population the achievements in children's development were significantly correlated with the degree of maturity after birth, and past infectious diseases. Among the environmental factors, an essential influence was exerted by the education of parents, social-existential conditions of the family as well as cigarette-smoking by the mother.