Analysis of the pragmatic skills in preterm children

42 low-birth-weight preterm infants of both genders, aged 2 to 4 years, were evaluated. The analysis of the communication profile was performed through the Pragmatics Protocol of the ABFW – child language test in the fields of phonology, vocabulary, fluency and pragmatics.

Results

regarding the communication initiative, there was a better performance of moderate and late preterm children. Regarding the communicative acts, the children did not reach the reference values proposed by the test. The verbal means were the most used, although there was a high occurrence of the gestural means. The most observed communicative functions were commenting, narrative, game and object request.

Conclusion

The preterm children had deviations in pragmatic skills in the age group investigated. The linguistic variables described in this study were not correlated with age and gender.

Keywords:
Language development; Child language; Child development; Language tests; Premature birth

Gender	Total of communicative acts	Median	1^st quartile	3^rd quartile	Maximum	Minimum
Female (n=26)	103	3.0	2.0	6.0	8.0	1.0
Male (n=16)	74	5.0	3.3	6.0	8.0	1.0
Age	Total of communicative acts	Median	1^st quartile	3^rd quartile	Maximum	Minimum
2 years (n=10)	37	5.0	1.8	5.0	6.0	1.0
3 years (n=15)	69	6.0	2.0	6.0	7.0	1.0
4 years (n=17)	71	3.0	2.0	7.0	8.0	1.0
GA Classification	Total of communicative acts	Median	1^st quartile	3^rd quartile	Maximum	Minimum
Extremely preterm (n=03)	5	2.0	1.0	2.0	2.0	1.0
Very preterm (n=22)	67	2.5	2.0	4.3	7.0	1.0
Moderate to late preterm (n=17)	105	6.0	5.5	7.0	8.0	3.0

Gender	Statistical test	p-value
Female (n=26)	Mann-Whitney = 176.5	0.409
Male (n=16)	Mann-Whitney = 176.5	0.409
Age	Statistical test	p-value
2 years (n=10)	Χ₍₂₎= 1.33	0.515
3 years (n=15)
4 years (n=17)
GA classification	Statistical test	p-value
Extremely preterm (n=03)	Χ₍₂₎= 23.02	0.000^* * Statistically significant value (p≤0.05)
Very preterm (n=22)
Moderate to late preterm (n=17)

Gender	VE Med	Statistical test	p-value	VO Med	Statistical test	p-value	G Med	Statistical test	p-value
Female (n=26)	29.5	Mann-Whitney = 160.5	0.209	20.0	Mann-Whitney = 189.0	0.620	28.0	Mann-Whitney = 198.5	0.804
Male (n=16)	41.0	Mann-Whitney = 160.5	0.209	19.0	Mann-Whitney = 189.0	0.620	33.0	Mann-Whitney = 198.5	0.804
Age	VE Med	Statistical test	p-value	VO Med	Statistical test	p-value	G Med	Statistical test	p-value
2 years (n=10)	51.5	Χ₍₂₎= 1.41	0.495	21.5	Χ₍₂₎= 0.84	0.656	33.0	Χ₍₂₎= 0.65	0.724
3 years (n=15)	91.0			18.0			28.0
4 years (n=17)	29.0			20.0			30.0
GA classification	VE Med	Statistical test	p-value	VO Med	Statistical test	p-value	G Med	Statistical test	p-value
Extremely preterm (n=03)	1.0	Χ₍₂₎= 23.73	0.000^* * Statistically significant value (p≤0.05)	15.0	Χ₍₂₎= 2.98	0.225	23.0	Χ₍₂₎= 10.27	0.006*
Very preterm (n=22)	1.5			20.0			28.0
Moderate to late preterm (n=17)	95.0			18.0			42.0

Function	Statistical test	p-value	Function	Statistical test	p-value
OR	χ^2 (2) = 23.34	0.000^* * Statistically significant value (p≤0.05)	N	χ^2 (2) = 27.66	0.000*
AR	χ^2 (2) = 3.33	0.189	PE	χ^2 (2) = 5.25	0.072
SR	χ^2 (2) = 26.95	0.000*	EX	χ^2 (2) = 16.26	0.000*
CR	χ^2 (2) = 5.25	0.072	RE	χ^2 (2) = 20.24	0.000*
IR	χ^2 (2) = 4.78	0.092	UF	χ^2 (2) = 16.26	0.000*
PR	χ^2 (2) = 17.33	0.000*	G	χ^2 (2) = 3.59	0.167
RO	χ^2 (2) = 23.73	0.000*	XP	χ^2 (2) = 22.22	0.000*
E	χ^2 (2) = 22.38	0.000*	NA	χ^2 (2) = 22.99	0.000*
C	χ^2 (2) = 2.93	0.231	EP	χ^2 (2) = 22.99	0.000*
SR	χ^2 (2) = 0.00	1.000	SG	χ^2 (2) = 23.21	0.000*

Variable	n	%
Mother’s schooling (in years)
Not informed	0	0
1 to 5	5	11.9
6 to 9	14	33.3
10 to 12	22	52.4
13 to 18	0	0
Over 19	1	2.4

Monthly income
Not informed	0	0
Less than 1 minimum wage ^{^} The minimum wage considered was that of 2018: R$ 954.00	6	14.3
1 minimum wage	18	42.8
From 1 to 2 minimum wages	12	28.6
From 2 to 3 minimum wages	5	11.9
From 3 to 4 minimum wages	0	0
Above 5 minimum wages	1	2.4

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[1] Conflict of interests: No.