We conducted a retrospective cohort study with data collected from 190 Peruvian premature newborns at the Neonatology Unit of a national reference hospital during 2009 - 2014. Neurodevelopmental disorders data was obtained from surveillance visits after 24 months. Mean and standard deviation (SD) were used for descriptive analysis of quantitative variables. Odds Ratio (OR) was calculated before and after control of confounders, generalized estimating equations were used to model the association between the five-minute Apgar scores and neurodevelopmental outcomes, using RStudio 2023.06.0.

The present study found that Apgar score is a non-conclusive tool for predicting neurodevelopmental outcomes at 2-year follow up. Research is required to find an efficient instrument that helps to identify children under risk of neurodevelopmental delay. Therefore, this score could be useful to identify children at risk of these disorders; nevertheless, more research is required to control all the possible confounding variables.