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The Quality of Life of Preterm Parents When Their Children Reach Adulthood :

August 16, 2017

The toll taken on parents when a baby is born preterm can be significant. But how do these parents fare years later in terms of the quality of their lives as their high-risk infants become adults? 

The toll taken on parents when a baby is born preterm can be significant. But how do these parents fare years later in terms of the quality of their lives as their high-risk infants become adults?  Wolke et al. (10.1542/peds.2017-1263) share with us a prospective whole population study of 250 preterm infants (<32 weeks and/or 1500 grams) and 230 term infants and their parents who have been followed from their birth to adulthood.  Parents completed validated quality of life questionnaires when their children were adults with a mean age of 27, taking into account potential issues of prematurity such as neurologic or academic disability, mental health, or even parent-child relationships.  The results may be surprising to some in that these parents of high-risk infants show resiliency in their quality of life being similar to parents of term-born individuals and that regardless of prematurity, quality of life is most affected by their adult progeny’s mental health and their positive or negative peer relationships.  This study does some nice myth-busting on what can affect parental quality of life in a family with a high-risk infant and offers some opportunity to improve the quality of life as these children get older by paying close attention to the mental health and peer relationships of children—two areas where we as child health care professionals can provide support and partnership to improve quality of life for parents (as well as their children) as much as possible. Read this quality study and learn more.

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