RESEARCH ARTICLE
The impact of prematurity and maternal socioeconomic status and education level on achievement-test scores up to 8th grade Nahed O. ElHassan1*, Shasha Bai2, Neal Gibson3, Greg Holland3, James M. Robbins4,5, Jeffrey R. Kaiser6,7
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1 Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, Arkansas, United States of America, 2 Department of Pediatrics, Division of Biostatistics, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, Arkansas, United States of America, 3 Arkansas Research Center, University of Central Arkansas, Conway, Arkansas, United States of America, 4 Department of Pediatrics, Division of Child Health Services Research, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, Arkansas, United States of America, 5 Department of Psychiatry, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, Arkansas, United States of America, 6 Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology, Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, Pennsylvania, United States of America, 7 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, Pennsylvania, United States of America *
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Abstract OPEN ACCESS Citation: ElHassan NO, Bai S, Gibson N, Holland G, Robbins JM, Kaiser JR (2018) The impact of prematurity and maternal socioeconomic status and education level on achievement-test scores up to 8th grade. PLoS ONE 13(5): e0198083. https:// doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0198083 Editor: Jacobus P. van Wouwe, TNO, NETHERLANDS
Background The relative influence of prematurity vs. maternal social factors (socioeconomic status and education level) on academic performance has rarely been examined.
Objective To examine the impact of prematurity and maternal social factors on academic performance from 3rd through 8th grade.
Received: January 5, 2018 Accepted: May 14, 2018
Methods
Data Availability Statement: All relevant data are within the paper and its Supporting Information files.
We conducted a retrospective cohort study of infants born in 1998 at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. The study sample included 58 extremely low gestational age newborns (ELGANs, 23–
