Mortality and Length of Stay of Very Low Birth Weight and Very Preterm Infants: A EuroHOPE Study

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 10; no. 6; p. e0131685
• Main Authors: Numerato, Dino, Fattore, Giovanni, Tediosi, Fabrizio, Zanini, Rinaldo, Peltola, Mikko, Banks, Helen, Mihalicza, Péter, Lehtonen, Liisa, Sveréus, Sofia, Heijink, Richard, Klitkou, Søren Toksvig, Fletcher, Eilidh, Heijden, Amber van der, Lundberg, Fredrik, Over, Eelco, Häkkinen, Unto, Seppälä, Timo T
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 29.06.2015; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Analysis; Apgar score; Babies; Birth weight; Europe; Gestational age; Hospitals; Humans; Incidence; Infant; Infant mortality; Infant, Extremely Premature; Infant, Newborn; Infant, Very Low Birth Weight; Infants; International comparisons; Length of Stay; Low birth weight; Medicin och hälsovetenskap; Morbidity; Mortality; Newborn babies; Population; Population Surveillance; Premature birth; Premature infants; Public health; Registries; Risk; Systematic review; Europe; Sweden; Netherlands; Hungary; United Kingdom > UK; Norway; Finland; Italy; Scotland
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0131685

The objective of this paper was to compare health outcomes and hospital care use of very low birth weight (VLBW), and very preterm (VLGA) infants in seven European countries. Analysis was performed on linkable patient-level registry data from seven European countries between 2006 and 2008 (Finland, Hungary, Italy (the Province of Rome), the Netherlands, Norway, Scotland, and Sweden). Mortality and length of stay (LoS) were adjusted for differences in gestational age (GA), sex, intrauterine growth, Apgar score at five minutes, parity and multiple births. The analysis included 16,087 infants. Both the 30-day and one-year adjusted mortality rates were lowest in the Nordic countries (Finland, Sweden and Norway) and Scotland and highest in Hungary and the Netherlands. For survivors, the adjusted average LoS during the first year of life ranged from 56 days in the Netherlands and Scotland to 81 days in Hungary. There were large differences between European countries in mortality rates and LoS in VLBW and VLGA infants. Substantial data linkage problems were observed in most countries due to inadequate identification procedures at birth, which limit data validity and should be addressed by policy makers across Europe.