Against all odds: transition of extremely low birth- weight (elbw) infants from adolescence to young adult- hood (ya)

AGAINST ALL ODDS: TRANSITION OF EXTREMELY LOW BIRTHWEIGHT (ELBW) INFANTS FROM ADOLESCENCE TO YOUNG ADULTHOOD (YA) S SAIGAL, B STOSKOPF, J PINELLI, L HOULT, M BOYLE, D STREINER, N PANETH MCMASTER UNIVERSITY, PEDIATRICS, HAMILTON (CANADA), MCMASTER UNIVERSITY, SCHOOL OF NURSING, HAMILTON (CANADA), MCMASTER UNIVERSITY, PSYCHIATRY & BEAHVIOURAL NEUROSCIENCES, HAMILTON (CANADA), UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO, PSYCHIATRY,TORONTO, MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY, EPIDEMIOLOGY, EAST LANSING (USA) Background: Traditionally, educational attainment, getting a job, living independently and getting married / parenthood have been considered as ’markers’ of successful transition to adulthood. Objective: To describe and compare the achievement and age of attainment of the above markers of adulthood between ELBW and NEW YA. Design/Methods: Prospective longitudinal study. Participants: Population-based cohort of 166 ELBW survivors, 501-1000g BW (1977–82 births) and 145 sociodemographically matched NBW reference group. Information was obtained through well-validated questionnaires. Results: At YA 149/166 (90%) ELBW and 133/145 (92%) NBW completed the assessments at a mean age of 23.3 (SD 1.2) years. Data presented are inclusive of YA with neurosensory impairments (ELBW 27%; NBW 2%). In terms of educational attainment, there were no statistically significant differences between the groups:24% of ELBW and 25% of NBW completed high school education; 5% of ELBW and 14% of NBW had completed university education. One-third of both groups are still pursuing post-secondary education (32% vs 33%). Approximately half of both cohorts had permanent employment (ELBW 47%; NBW 52%). There were no differences in job status or in mean annual income. There were no differences in the proportion who had left the parental home (ELBW 42%; NBW 53k%; NS); however, 2.7% of ELBW vs none of NBW were living in group homes. A similar proportion were married/cohabiting (21% vs 23%), or were parents (11% vs 14%). The age of attainment of the above markers was similar for both cohorts. Conclusions: It appears that against all odds, a significant majority of ELBW have overcome their earlier difficulties to become functional YAs in terms of educational attainment, employment and independent living. Our findings support the concept of ’resilience’.