Association between gestational age and birth weight on the language development of Brazilian children: a systematic review

Abstract

Objective: To review the literature that addresses the relationship between prematurity, birth weight, and development of language in Brazilian children.

Sources: A systematic review of studies published between 2003 and 2012 in English and Portuguese and indexed in PubMed, LILACS, and SciELO. The following key words were used in the searches: Prematuro, Prematuridade, Linguagem, Prematurity, Language, Speech-Language Pathology. Fifty-seven articles were retrieved, 13 of which were included in the systematic review.

Summary of the findings: The results showed an association between prematurity, low birth weight, and language development. In studies that made comparisons between preterm and term infants, there was evidence that preterm infants had poorer performance on indicators of language. It was also observed that children born with lower birth weight had a poorer performance on measures of language when compared to children with higher weight and closer to 37 weeks of gestational age. Regarding the type of language assessed, expression proved to be more impaired than reception. Higher parental education and family income were indicated as protective factors for the development of language. Conversely, lower birth weight and higher degree of prematurity emerged as risk factors.

Conclusions: Preterm birth and low birth weight poses risks for the language development of children, especially in the first years of life. Therefore, it is essential that pediatricians are aware of the language development of these children to ensure proper treatment.

Keywords: Atraso de desenvolvimento de linguagem; Baixo peso ao nascimento; Child; Criança; Desenvolvimento de linguagem; Infant prematurity; Language; Language development; Language development disorders; Linguagem; Low birth weight; Prematuridade.