Impact of community neonatal services : a multicentre survey.

Langley, D. and Hollis, S. and Friede, T. and MacGregor, D. and Gatrell, Anthony C. (2002) Impact of community neonatal services : a multicentre survey. Archives of Disease in Childhood, 87. pp. 204-208. ISSN 0003-9888

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Abstract

Objectives: To explore the impact of a community neonatal service on high risk infant survivors in the first year of life. Design: Retrospective multicentre survey. Postal questionnaires were sent to selected parents. Setting: Thirty two neonatal units in England and Wales. Patients: Inclusion criteria: infants over 12 months of age with birth weight 1500 g, or who received level I intensive care for at least 48 hours. Exclusion criteria: multiple births, infants who had died or had severe congenital abnormalities. A total of 3367 eligible infants were selected, and their parents were sent a questionnaire; 65% responded. Main outcome measures: Length of stay on the neonatal unit from birth to initial discharge. Readmission to hospital during the first year of life. Results: The median length of stay in units with a community neonatal service was 35 days compared with 37 days in units without. When adjusted for infant and parent characteristics, the median length of stay was reduced by 12.6% where a community neonatal service was provided (95% confidence interval 5.3% to 19.3%). The readmission rates were 44.6% in units with a community neonatal service and 43.5% in units without. There was no significant reduction in the adjusted odds of readmission. Conclusions: The retrospective nature of this study means that these findings cannot be definitely attributed to the presence of a community neonatal service. However, the results suggest that community neonatal services may reduce the length of stay without any subsequent increase in readmission.

Item Type:
Journal Article
Journal or Publication Title:
Archives of Disease in Childhood
Uncontrolled Keywords:
/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/2700/2735
Subjects:
?? community neonatal servicehospital stayreadmissionhigh risk infantspediatrics, perinatology, and child healthobstetrics and gynaecologyr medicine (general) ??
ID Code:
13610
Deposited By:
Deposited On:
26 Sep 2008 08:50
Refereed?:
Yes
Published?:
Published
Last Modified:
28 Nov 2023 11:05