Term infants with fetal growth restriction are not at increased risk for low intelligence scores at age 17 years

Objective: To assess the long-term cognitive outcome of small for gestational age (SGA) compared with appropriate for gestational age (AGA) infants. Design: Data from the Jerusalem Perinatal Study was matched with information from the army draft medical board. SGA and severe SGA were defined as birth weight below the 10th and 3rd percentiles for gestational age, respectively. A multiple linear regression analysis was performed to control for clinical, perinatal, and socio-demographic confounding variables. Subjects: A cohort of 13,454 consecutive singleton term infants born between 1974 and 1976. Main outcome measure: IQ at age 17 years. Results: SGA infants had lower adjusted mean ± SE IQ scores compared with their AGA peers: 102.2 ± 0.9 versus 105.1 ± 0.7 (P < .0001) for males and 102.5 ± 0.9 versus 103.9 ± 0.7 (P < .015) for females. SGA was not associated with lower academic achievements compared with AGA. Conclusion: After controlling for multiple confounders, being born SGA at term is associated with slightly lower intelligence test scores at age 17 years. However, the clinical significance of the small difference is not evident in academic achievements.