Males with neonatal hyperbilirubinemia examined at 18 years of age.

An 18 years follow-up study of 55 males with neonatal hyperbilirubinemia born in 1962/63 was done at the military draft board examinations in 1981. The medical and psychological tests were compared to the tests of the total cohort of Norwegian conscripts. Of those examined at 18 years of age 7.3% was unfit for military service, compared to 6.2% in the total cohort. Ten organ systems were clinically examined with no significantly increased frequency of unfitness among the index cases. Intelligence testing was done on 39 of the studied subjects, the mean score being the same as in the total cohort of Norwegian conscripts. However, the seven infants with a positive Coombs' test and hyperbilirubinemia for 5 days or more had a significantly lower mean intelligence score than the national average.