471 - Mental Health of 17-year-old Adolescents Born Very Preterm - the PIPARI Study follow-up

Publication Number: 4462.471

Katri Lahti, University of Turku and Turku University Hospital, Turku, Varsinais-Suomi, Finland; Helena Ollila, University of Turku, Turku, Varsinais-Suomi, Finland; Liisa Lehtonen, Turku University Hospital, Turku, Varsinais-Suomi, Finland; Max Karukivi, University of Turku, Turku, Varsinais-Suomi, Finland

Background: Adolescents born very preterm (VPT) have previously been shown to be more vulnerable in terms of mental health compared to full-term born (FT) peers. Neurodevelopmental neuropsychiatric disorders and internalizing symptoms, such as depression and anxiety, have been more frequent, and externalizing symptoms less frequent in the VPT population, but there are also contradictory findings.

Objective: To assess the self-reported symptoms of anxiety, depression, ADHD, conduct problems, and alcohol consumption in a cohort of VPT adolescents and their FT peers at the age of 17 years.

Design/Methods: VPT adolescents (n = 138) and FT controls (n = 105), born at Turku University Hospital between 2001-2006, completed Overall Anxiety Severity and Impairment Scale (OASIS), the Raitasalo's version of Beck Depression Inventory (R-BDI), Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), and ASEBA's Youth Self Report (YSR) from which the scales for attention symptoms (YSR-AS) and externalizing symptoms (YSR-ES) were used. The cut-offs for significant symptoms were OASIS ≥8, R-BDI ≥8, YSR-AS ≥65, YSR-ES ≥65, and AUDIT ≥8. Additionally, a sum variable (0-5) was calculated of those exceeding the cut-off scores to describe the extent of the mental health difficulties.

Results: The VPT group comprised 73 boys and 65 girls, and the FT born group 45 boys and 60 girls. Of the VPT adolescents 34% and of the FT adolescents 30% had symptoms exceeding the cut-off in at least one of the questionnaires. Regarding both the sum variable and the different scales, no significant differences were found between the groups in the rate of adolescents exceeding the cut-off.

Conclusion(s): The VPT born adolescents of this longitudinal follow-up cohort born in early 2000 did not differ from FT controls in self-reported mental health difficulties. The symptom rates are comparable also with the large epidemiological studies assessing mental health problems in adolescent populations.

Figure 1.
Percentages of adolescents born very preterm and their term-born peers exceeding the cut-off scores on mental health assessment questionnaires.