Background: In Cameroon, prematurity is considered among the first cause of neonatal mortality and the main cause of
sequelae in children under 5 years old. Although some local teams have
studied the causes of neonatal deaths, the survival of the very preterm babies
in our context remains poorly known.Patients and Methods: We conducted a hospital-based cross-sectional study with both a
retrospective and prospective data collection, covering a period of 5 years and
8 months, including 120 participants who presented with very preterm birth.
Socio-demographic, anamnestic, and outcome features were studied. The
assessment of the child’s psychomotor development was evaluated trough gross
motor skills, fine motor skills, language and social contact. We calculated the
development quotient (DQ) by dividing the developmental age (DA) by the actual
age (RA) of the patient. Qualitative variables were expressed as numbers and
percentages and quantitative variables as means ± standard deviations.Results: At the clinic, 23.8% of the children developed cerebral palsy, 3.1% had
cerebral palsy with mental delay, and 6.6% had praxis disorders. Hearing
impairment was observed in 6.3% of the survivors, visual impairment in 9%, and
swallowing disorders in 7.6%. The mean developmental quotient was (89.98 ±
19.7) with a median of 93. A delay in developmental milestones was observed in
10.8%, speech disorder in 57%
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