IUGR doesn't affect mid-life quality

Being born with intrauterine growth restriction does not appear to adversely impact health-related quality of life in middle age, according to a study in the July issue of Archives of Disease in Childhood.

Dale Spence, MD, of Queen's University in Belfast, UK, and colleagues conducted a case–control study of 235 adults born between 1954 and 1956 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Overall, 111 participants who were born with IUGR (birthweight less than the 10th percentile) were compared to a control group of 124 individuals with normal weight for gestation.

No significant differences were noted between the two groups in overall health-related quality of life or within the eight dimensions measured on a survey that was used to assess quality of life in adulthood. This conclusion persisted when researchers adjusted for potentially confounding variables including gender, social class, marital status, and education.

Spence D, Alderdice FA, Stewart MC, et al. Does intrauterine growth restriction affect quality of life in adulthood? Arch Dis Child. 2007;92:700-703.