The long term effects of dexamethasone on the neurocognitive development of preterm infants: Follow-up at school-age

Dexamethasone is a synthetic glucocorticoid known to effectively decrease the risk of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). Neurocognitive outcomes at early school-age of preterm infants treated with dexamethasone were examined. Participants included 74 preterm children examined through neurocognitive test assessment: 50 received dexamethasone (DEX; GA = 25.30 +/-1.63 weeks), 24 did not receive dexamethasone (NODEX; GA = 28.12 +/-2.46 weeks), and 23 Full-term Healthy Controls (HC; CA = 6.60 +/-0.28). Gestational age (GA) was significantly lower in both preterm groups compared to HC children. ANCOVA, with GA as covariate, revealed a single significant difference for manual coordination (NODEX< DEX; p = 0.04). No differences were found on motor skills between DEX and NODEX children. These data suggested that earlier GA, not dexamethasone treatment, likely accounted for these results. Dexamethasone did not appear to significantly impair neurocognition in this early school-age preterm cohort.