Table 1.
Participant characteristics
| Preterm infants (n = 155) | Term infants (n = 103) | P-valuea | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gestational age at birth/weeks (range) | 28.84 (23.28–34.84) | 39.7 (36.42–42.14) | <0.05 |
| Gestational age at scan/weeks (range) | 40.56 (37.70–45.14) | 42.27 (39.84–47.14) | <0.05 |
| Birth weight/g (range) | 1177 (500–2100) | 3482 (2346–4670) | <0.05 |
| Birth weight Z-score (range) | −0.19 (range −3.13–1.58) | 0.43 (range −2.30–2.96) | <0.05 |
| Sex: female (%) | 75 (48) | 44 (43) | 0.37 |
| Maternal folate supplementation in pregnancy (%) | 136 (88) | 86 (83) | 0.33 |
| Maternal age (years) | 31.1 (17–44) | 33.7 (19–48) | <0.05 |
| Maternal tobacco smoker in pregnancy (%) | 29 (19) | 2 (2) | <0.05 |
| Maternal diabetes (%) | 10 (6) | 6 (6) | 0.84 |
| Pregnancy-induced hypertension (%) | 22 (14) | 7 (7) | 0.07 |
| Highest maternal qualification | <0.05 | ||
| None | 4 (3) | 0 (0) | |
| High school | 43 (28) | 7 (7) | |
| College/university | 106 (68) | 95 (92) |
a
Student’s t-test was used to analyse continuous variables and χ2 to analyse proportions. There were three missing for maternal qualifications (two preterm, one term).