Short-term clinical outcomes of late preterm infants

Abstract

Purpose : To identify the short-term clinical outcomes of late preterm infants and to test the hypothesis that late preterm infants have more clinical problems during the early postnatal period than term infants. Methods : One hundred late preterm infants [gestational age (GA) 34+0-36+6 weeks] and the same number of term infants (GA 37+0-41+6 weeks) were randomly selected from 289 late preterm infants and 825 term infants born in the Seoul National University Bundang Hospital between January 2007 and December 2007, and their electronic medical records were reviewed and analyzed. Results : Compared to term infants, late preterm infants had significantly more medical problems such as temperature instability (odds ratio [OR] 8.7), hypoglycemia (OR 17.5), intravenous fluid infusion (OR 10.2), evaluation for sepsis (OR 9.4), respiratory problems (OR 7.5), apnea and bradycardia (OR 8.6), phototherapy for jaundice (OR 3.6), and feeding intolerance (OR 10.0). Hospital stay was also significantly longer in late preterm infants. Conclusion : Late preterm infants had significantly more medical problems and increased length of hospital stay compared to term infants. More attention should be given to caring for these late preterm infants in newborn nursery during the early postnatal period.