SCIENTIFIC LETTER Health-Related Quality of Life at 2.5 years Corrected Age Among Neonates ≤1250 g Birth Weight Kanya Mukhopadhyay 1 & Abhishek Somasekhara Aradhya 1 & Prahbhjot Malhi 1 & Mangat R Dogra 2 Received: 5 March 2020 /Accepted: 20 April 2020 # Dr. K C Chaudhuri Foundation 2020 Abbreviations BERA Brainstem Evoked Response Audiometry HSCS-PS Health status classification system for pre-school children VLBW Very low birth weight To the Editor: Health is multidimensional and common scales used for evaluating long term outcomes assess isolated areas like either motor or development and do not measure activities of daily living [1–3]. Hence we planned to assess health com- prehensively through Quality of Life (QoL) assessment in babies with birth weight < 1250 g at 2.5 y corrected age (CA). This prospective study was conducted in the neonatal follow-up clinic (NFC) of a level III centre from April 2012 through March 2015. Informed consent was obtained and the study was approved by the Institute Ethics Committee. Exclusion criteria included babies with life-threatening malformations. Health status classification system-preschool (HSCS-PS) [4] parent questionnaire was used to assess QoL across 12 dimensions. A total of 164 neonates were discharged from the NICU and were followed at regular intervals till 2.5 y CA. By the end of study completion (3 y), 89 of 126 neonates in follow up had attained 2.5 y corrected age, remaining 16 infants died (10%) and 22 were lost to follow up (13%). At baseline, these 89 neo- nates had a mean (SD) gestation of 31 (2) wk. with a mean (SD) birth weight of 1053 (149) g. As per parental responses on HSCS- PS questionnaire at 2.5 y CA, 37 children (41%) had 2 or more and 16 (18%) had 3 or more dimensions affected. Most common dimensions affected were self care in 82 (92%) followed by speech 25 (28%) and learning in 11 (13%). Univariate analysis revealed extreme prematurity, retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) any stage and Denver II abnormality at 1 y predicted at least 2 domains affected. On multivariate analysis, only extreme prematurity was an independent predictor ( p = 0.007). This is the first Indian study to assess QoL in preterms at 2.5 y CA. Using HSCS-PS questionnaire, Saigal et al. showed [4] 35% of extremely low birth weight (ELBW) and 25% of 1000–1500 g neonates had at least 3 dimen- sions impaired as compared to 18% in our study probably due to higher gestation in our cohort. Also, Schiariti et al. [5] showed most common domains affected to be speech and self care. In conclusion, this study highlights that self- care, speech and learning are most commonly affected in our preterm cohort at 2.5 y CA. Acknowledgments Mrs. Ayushi Sood, Psychologist, Department of Pediatrics for administering HRQOL questionnaire to parents. Compliance with Ethical Standards Ethical Approval PGIMER, Chandigarh Ethics Committee assessed and approved the study. Conflict of Interest None. Informed Consent Informed consent was obtained from one of the par- ent of the participants included in the study. Source of Funding Indian Council of Medical Research, New Delhi, India. References 1. Mukhopadhyay K, Malhi P, Mahajan R, Narang A. Neurodevelopmental and behavioral outcome of very low birth weight babies at corrected age of 2 years. Indian J Pediatr. 2010;77:963–7. 2. Vieira ME, Linhares MB. Quality of life of individuals born preterm: a systematic review of assessment approaches. Qual Life Res. 2016;25:2123–39. * Kanya Mukhopadhyay kanyapgi@gmail.com 1 Department of Pediatrics, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India 2 Department of Ophthalmology, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India The Indian Journal of Pediatrics https://doi.org/10.1007/s12098-020-03317-9