Respiratory symptoms in children with low birth weight with or without perinatal respiratory insufficiency

: We recorded prevalence of respiratory symptoms in 104 school children aged eight years (+/- 0.4 years) who were born with a weight below 2500 grams. Perinatal respiratory insufficiency (PRI) was observed in 18 children. Validation by medical records in 14 cases demonstrated that 7 children had been oxygen dependent over 1-5 days after birth, the other 7 children had required mechanical ventilation from 2 days up to 4 month. Children with a history of PRI did not suffer more frequently from "cough after exercise" (17%), "wheezing" (50%) or "frequent cough" (11%) than healthy children of low birthweight. Corresponding values were 26%, 38%, and 18% respectively. Multiple logistic regression analyses confirmed these observations. In children with a low birthweight PRI is not associated with respiratory symptoms at school age.