Q&A: Researcher Assesses Value of Interventions for Premature Infants

A major study launched at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill showed that high-quality early-intervention services dramatically improved the intellectual performance and behavioral competence of premature, low-birthweight infants by the time they reached age 3.

The Infant Health and Development Program, which is described in the March 1992 issue of Pediatrics, was conducted at eight sites and involved 985 children, 377 in an experimental group and 608 in a control group.

Assistant Editor Deborah L. Cohen discussed the study with the lead researcher, Craig T. Ramey, who is now a professor of psychology and pediatrics and the director of the Civitan International Research Center at the University...