• G R Niven and J E Harding.
• Department of Paediatrics, National Women's Hospital, University of Auckland, New Zealand.
• J Paediatr Child Health. 1995 Apr 1; 31 (2): 137-42.

ObjectiveTo determine first year mortality and hospital morbidity after neonatal intensive care.MethodologyCohort study of 6077 surviving infants inborn in one regional hospital in 1988. Nine hundred and eighty-eight received neonatal intensive care and 103 were very low birthweight (VLBW).ResultsFor infants who required care in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), the relative risk of dying before their first birthday was 3.6 (95% confidence intervals [CI] 1.5-8.8). This increased risk was associated with low birthweight (LBW) rather than requirement for NICU care. Of all inborn survivors, 10.4% were readmitted to hospital in the first year and 2.4% more than once. The readmission rate was 20% for NICU survivors and 30% for VLBW infants. The risk of hospitalization was independently associated both with NICU admission (odds ratio 2.3, CI 1.9-2.9) and with VLBW (OR 1.8, CI 1.1-3.0). The NICU survivors also had multiple admissions and prolonged hospital stays.ConclusionsBoth low birthweight and neonatal illness requiring intensive care are important indicators of continuing medical vulnerability over the first year of life.

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