Minor neurological dysfunction after the onset of puberty: association with perinatal events.

In order to study the hypotheses that puberty is related to a decrease of minor neurological dysfunction (MND) and that persisting MND is associated with perinatal factors, two groups (174 normal, 172 MND) of the Groningen Perinatal Project were followed from 12 to 14 years. At 14 years almost all the children had entered puberty (n = 329) defined as the presence of three or more puberty signs. In the MND group 55% of the children were normal at 14 years and in 45% MND signs were still present, though in a less extensive form. The latter phenomenon was most clear in children who had just begun puberty. The effect of puberty was similar in both sexes. MND which persisted into puberty was related to neonatal neurological deviancy, lower social class, lower obstetrical optimality score and male sex. After differentiation with specific MND clusters, it appeared that fine manipulative disability was associated with neonatal neurological deviancy, with minor physical anomalies and with lower social class; choreiform dyskinesia with asphyxia; hypotonia with constitutionally related factors; and coordination problems with pre-maturity (< 32 weeks).