Effects of a Smartphone-Based Out-of-Hospital Screening App for Neonatal Hyperbilirubinemia on Neonatal Readmission Rates and Maternal Anxiety: Randomized Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND: Neonatal hyperbilirubinemia is one of the leading causes of neonatal readmission-especially severe hyperbilirubinemia and its complications-and it influences disease burden as well as neonatal and maternal health. Smartphones have been shown to have satisfactory accuracy in screening neonatal bilirubin levels, but the impact of this technology on neonatal health care service and maternal health outcomes is still unknown. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of a smartphone-based out-of-hospital neonatal jaundice screening program on neonatal readmission rates for jaundice and related maternal anxiety. METHODS: This was a 2-arm, unblinded, randomized controlled trial with 30 days of intervention and follow-up periods. From August 2019 to August 2020, healthy mother-infant dyads were recruited on-site from 3 public hospitals in Hainan, China. Intervention group mothers used the smartphone app to routinely monitor neonatal jaundice at home under the web-based guidance of pediatricians. Control group participants received routine care. The primary study outcome was the neonatal readmission rate due to jaundice within 30 days of the first hospital discharge. The secondary outcome was the maternal anxiety score associated with neonatal jaundice. The data were collected through a self-assessed questionnaire. All participants were included in the analysis (intention-to-treat). RESULTS: In this study, 1424 mother-infant dyads were recruited, comprising 1424 mothers and 1424 newborns. The median age of the mothers was 29 (IQR 26-32) years, and there were 714 (50.1%) male neonates. These mother-infant dyads were randomly assigned to the intervention group and the control group, with 712 dyads in each group; only 1187 of these dyads completed the follow-up. We found that the adjusted 30-day neonatal readmission rate due to jaundice reduced by 10.5% (71/605, 11.7% vs 141/582, 24.2%; 95% CI 5%-15.9%; odds ratio 0.4, 95% CI 0.3-0.5; P<.001) and the relevant maternal anxiety mean score decreased by 3.6 (95% CI -4.4 to -2.8; ß=-3.6, 95% CI -4.5 to -2.8; P<.001) in the intervention group compared to those in the routine care group. CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows that the smartphone-based out-of-hospital screening method for neonatal hyperbilirubinemia decreased the neonatal readmission rate within 30 days from the first discharge and improved maternal mental health to some degree, thus demonstrating the usefulness of this screening app for follow-up in pediatric care. TRIAL REGISTRATION: China Clinical Trial Registration Center, ChiCTR2100049567; http://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.aspx?proj=64245.

The correlation between neonatal vitamin D levels and the risk of childhood asthma attacks.

BACKGROUND: To explore the correlation between neonatal vitamin D levels and the risk of asthma in children aged 3-9 years. METHODS: A total of 1,534 subjects were selected, and clinical and laboratory test data of all subjects were collected at birth, including 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 [25(OH)D3] levels, gender, season of birth, birth weight; whether delivery was premature, cesarean section, or primipara; and parental details including maternal age, ethnicity, level of education, history of smoking, and history of maternal or paternal asthma. The level of 25(OH)D3 was used as a continuous variable to analyze its correlation with the risk of asthma using the Cox proportional regression model. In addition, subjects were divided into four groups according to their 25(OH)D3 quartiles, and the first quantile group was used as a reference to analyze the risk of asthma in the other groups. Further subgroup analysis was conducted according to the patients' gender and birth season. RESULTS: Among the 1,534 subjects included, there were 107 cases in the asthma-affected group and 1,427 cases in the normal control group. Compared with the control group, the level of 25(OH)D3 in the asthma group was significantly lower (P=0.03), the mother's education level was lower (P=0.002), but the preterm birth rate, cesarean section rate, and parental asthma prevalence rate were significantly higher (all P<0.05). When the neonatal 25(OH)D3 was divided into quartiles to perform a categorical variable analysis, we found that compared with the first quantile (Q1, 0.0-25.1 mmol/L), the risk of asthma in Q4 was reduced by 50% (HR=0.50, 95% CI: 0.38-0.76). The second quantile group (Q2) and the third quantile group (Q3) showed no significant difference in the risk of disease compared with Q1 but showed a trend of decreasing risk as the quantile group increased (the trend P values were both <0.05). This correlation was still valid when a stratified analysis was made based on gender and birth season. CONCLUSIONS: There is a significant correlation between a reduced vitamin D level in newborns and the subsequent risk of asthma in children aged 3-9 years. Moreover, the level of vitamin D is an independent risk factor for childhood asthma.