Prenatal and perinatal predictors of blood pressure at school age in former preterm, low birth weight infants

OBJECTIVE: To investigate prenatal and perinatal determinants of school age blood pressure (BP) in former preterm, low birth weight infants STUDY DESIGN: We studied 694 participants in the Infant Health and Development Program, an 8-center longitudinal study of children born ≤37 weeks and ≤2500 grams. We obtained information about prenatal and perinatal factors by interview and medical record review and measured BP 3 times at age 6.5 years. RESULT: Adjusting for sex, age, sociodemographic variables, and height z-score, for each z-score birth weight for gestational age – which represents fetal growth – systolic BP at 6.5 years was 0.7 mmHg higher (95% CI −0.1, 1.6). Maternal age, pre-pregnancy weight, gestational weight gain, smoking, preeclampsia, gestational diabetes; and child gestational age and neonatal complications were also not associated with BP. CONCLUSION: In contrast to full term infants, slower fetal growth was not associated with higher BP in former preterm, low birth weight infants.