Social disparities negatively impact neonatal follow-up clinic attendance of premature infants discharged from the neonatal intensive care unit

• Published in: Journal of perinatology Vol. 40; no. 5; pp. 790 - 797
• Main Authors: Swearingen, Corinne, Simpson, Pippa, Cabacungan, Erwin, Cohen, Susan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Nature Publishing Group US 01.05.2020; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 692/308; 692/700; Care and treatment; Cigarette smoking; Continuum of care; Demographic aspects; Design factors; Dysplasia; Gestation; Gestational age; Health aspects; Infants; Infants (Premature); Intensive care; Management; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Neonatal care; Neonates; Newborn babies; Pediatric research; Pediatric Surgery; Pediatrics; Premature babies; Premature birth; Race; Social aspects; Social classes; Social factors; Statistical analysis; Target recognition; United States
• ISSN: 0743-8346; 1476-5543
• DOI: 10.1038/s41372-020-0659-4

Objective Neonatal neurodevelopmental follow-up clinic provides continued surveillance and assessment of high-risk premature infants. We hypothesized that attrition is associated with race and social factors. Study design We performed a retrospective cohort study of neonates born at 26–32 weeks gestation who were admitted to a level IV neonatal intensive care unit. Maternal and neonatal characteristics and follow-up attendance were collected. Statistical analysis was performed with significance set at p value < 0.05. Results In total, 237 neonates met study criteria. There was a 62% loss to follow-up over 2 years. Factors associated with loss to follow-up included older gestational age, African American race, and maternal cigarette smoking. Protective factors included older maternal age, a neonatal diagnosis of bronchopulmonary dysplasia, and longer hospital length of stay. Conclusions Social disparities negatively impact neonatal follow-up clinic attendance. Efforts to identify and target high-risk populations must be started during initial hospitalization before infants are lost to follow-up.