Browsing by Author "Suokas, Frans"

Objectives: The present study tests the hypothesis of the association of an asphyxic insult, as defined by a low perinatal Apgar score to cognitive performance on adulthood, which has not been the objective in previous studies. The study questions are whether the low Apgar score without other symptoms predisposes one to a lower educational attainment, lower speech production capabilities and other cognitive impairments in adulthood. Based on previous studies conducted on younger individuals, the hypotheses were that individuals with a low Apgar score 1) have lower educational attainment and 2) perform worse on tasks that stress speech production than controls. Additionally, it was analyzed whether the individuals with a low Apgar score have lower 3) general intelligence, 4) verbal intelligence, 5) perceptual organization, 6) attentional skills and executive functions and 7) memory functions than controls. Methods: The participants were selected from a birth cohort of 22359 deliveries during 1971–1974 that had been followed-up until the latest measurements in 2014–2016, when the participants were aged 40–45 years of age. Asphyxia group consisted of participants with an Apgar score below 7 at least two times at 1, 5, and 15 minutes after delivery without other perinatal risk conditions (N = 80). Control group consisted of participants without any perinatal risk conditions (N = 83). It was analyzed whether the asphyxia group had an increased risk for attaining maximally a secondary level education. Measures of cognition were conducted with standardized neuropsychological tests. Childhood maladaptive living environment was included in the analyses as a covariate. Logistic regression was used in the analyses of educational attainment. In the neuropsychological tests, t-tests were conducted for the unadjusted analyses and analyses of covariance for the adjusted analyses with the covariate. Results and conclusions: The individuals who had suffered asphyxia had higher likelihood to remain in the secondary level education. They performed worse on reading speed, semantic verbal fluency, semantic abstract reasoning and on a task of processing and psychomotor speed. After adjustment for the childhood living environment, their general intelligence was also lower than controls. It was confirmed that the consequences of perinatal asphyxia extend to adulthood. Based on the results, it was assumed that the temporal cortex and basal ganglia are especially sensitive to asphyxic insults. It is suggested that the individuals, who have suffered from perinatal asphyxia, will be followed-up at the onset of their studies and provided with environmental support to avoid academic underachievement.