Abstract
The government of South Korea implemented social distancing measures to control the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak. This study aimed to compare the composite preterm (PT) or low birth weight (LBW) birth rates during the COVID-19 pandemic period in South Korea to those during the prior decade, and to find out the associations of childbirth during the pandemic period with PT or LBW births. Over a ten-year period, this retrospective cohort study was performed in a single hospital in the Seoul metropolitan city. The COVID-19 period was defined as running from 22 March 2020, to 31 October 2020, and the pre-COVID-19 period as the sum of parallel periods from 2011 to 2019. Trends in composite birth rates were investigated, and logistic regression analysis was conducted to investigate independent factors associated with composite births. There were 246 and 2765 singleton deliveries during the COVID-19 period and the pre-COVID-19 period, respectively. The composite birth rate decreased from 16.5% to 9.8%. Childbirth during the pandemic was independently associated with a decreased composite birth rate (adjusted odds ratio, 0.563; 95% confidence interval, 0.355−0.844, p = 0.015). These findings suggested that the COVID-19 pandemic might provide an opportunity to find out preventive factors for PT or LBW births.
Highlights
Preterm (PT) birth is defined as all births before 37 weeks of gestation [1], the PT birth rate is approximately 10% worldwide [2], and was 8.1% in South Korea in 2019 according to a press release of the Korea National Statistical Office
In the present study, which focused on composite PT or Low birth weight (LBW) birth rate, we aimed to find out the change in PT or LBW birth rate and maternal and neonatal characteristics during the COVID-19 pandemic period compared to data from the prior decade
The mean birth weight was not significantly different; the LBW, very low birth weight (VLBW), extremely low birth weight (ELBW), and the PT or LBW birth rate reduced, the trend of change over 10 years was not statistically significant; the number of infants admitted to the NICU increased significantly over the 10-year period (p < 0.001) (Table 1)
Summary
Preterm (PT) birth is defined as all births before 37 weeks of gestation [1], the PT birth rate is approximately 10% worldwide [2], and was 8.1% in South Korea in 2019 according to a press release of the Korea National Statistical Office. Prematurity is associated with an increased risk of mortality and long-term morbidities and is the dominant cause of death in infants younger than five years of age, globally [2]. Birth weight is a strong indicator evaluating the risk of perinatal mortality and morbidity because it is positively associated with gestational age (GA) [3]. LBW infants are exposed to an increased risk of several health problems such as growth retardation, infectious diseases, and developmental delay, similar to PT infants. Both PT and LBW infants could contribute to major public healthcare problems. The etiology of a PT or LBW infant birth is not yet fully understood because it is related to multiple sociodemographic, nutritional, biological, and environmental factors [2]
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