Use of Medical Resources by Preterm Infants Born at Less than 33 Weeks' Gestation Following Discharge from the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in Korea
Journal of Korean Medical Science
;
: S95-S103, 2015.
Article
in English
| WPRIM
| ID: wpr-218208
ABSTRACT
This study was aimed to provide data on the use of medical resources by preterm infants following discharge from the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). The cohort included preterm infants (n=2,351) born at 22-32 weeks' gestation who were discharged from the NICUs of 44 Korean hospitals between April 2009 to March 2010. Mean duration of post-discharge follow-up was 425+/-237 days. After discharge from the NICU, 94.5% of total infants visited a pediatric outpatient clinic (11.5+/-9.8 mean visits), 42.9% visited a pediatric clinic for respiratory problems irregularly (4.9+/-6.6 mean visits), and 31.1% utilized emergency center at least once. Among all visits to the emergency center, 24.7% resulted in readmission and 50.8% of those visits were due to respiratory problems. At least one episode of readmission was required by 33.6% (788/2,346) of total infants, and 18.4% (431/2,346) of total infants were readmitted with respiratory problems at least once. Among all infants readmitted for respiratory problems, 16.2% (70/341) were diagnosed with respiratory syncytial virus infection which accounted for 30.3% of viral etiologies confirmed by laboratory testing. Infants born at or =30 weeks' gestation (2+/-1.7 vs. 1.7+/-1.2, P=0.009, 1.8+/-1.2 vs. 1.5+/-1.1, 0.027, respectively). Overall, use of medical resources is common, and respiratory problems are the leading cause of use of medical resources. Total readmissions and respiratory readmissions are more frequent in more immature infants.
Full text:
Available
Index:
WPRIM (Western Pacific)
Main subject:
Patient Readmission
/
Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Newborn
/
Infant, Premature
/
Intensive Care Units, Neonatal
/
Retrospective Studies
/
Cohort Studies
/
Follow-Up Studies
/
Databases, Factual
/
Gestational Age
/
Emergency Service, Hospital
Type of study:
Etiology study
/
Incidence study
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Risk factors
Limits:
Female
/
Humans
/
Infant
/
Male
/
Infant, Newborn
Country/Region as subject:
Asia
Language:
English
Journal:
Journal of Korean Medical Science
Year:
2015
Type:
Article
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