Objective:

To investigate the epidemiological characteristics of the detection rate of postural cranial abnormality in preterm infants, emphasizing the importance of early diagnosis and intervention timing.

Key Findings:

• Postural cranial abnormality was detected in 1,420 out of 2,165 preterm infants.
• The highest detection rate was in the 0–2 month group (81.2%, 371/457), followed by the 5–6 month group (74.2%, 495/667), and the lowest in the 3–4 month group (53.2%, 552/1,041).
• Detection rates for plagiocephaly fluctuated in a 'V' shape across age groups, while brachycephaly detection increased with age.
• Scaphocephaly detection significantly decreased from 0–2 months to 5–6 months.

Interpretation:

The high incidence of postural cranial abnormality among Chinese preterm infants, particularly plagiocephaly, underscores the urgent need for early and continuous intervention in clinical practice.

Limitations:

• The study is limited to a specific population in Beijing, which may not be representative of all preterm infants, potentially affecting the generalizability of the findings.
• The retrospective nature of the study may introduce biases in data collection.

Conclusion:

The study provides compelling evidence for incorporating cranial shape screening into routine follow-up for preterm infants and suggests advancing the intervention window to the corrected age of 0–2 months to improve outcomes.