High Healthcare Use at Age 5 Years in a European Cohort of Children Born Very Preterm

• Published in: The Journal of pediatrics Vol. 243; pp. 69 - 77.e9
• Main Authors: Seppänen, Anna-Veera, Draper, Elizabeth S., Petrou, Stavros, Barros, Henrique, Aubert, Adrien M., Andronis, Lazaros, Kim, Sung Wook, Maier, Rolf F., Pedersen, Pernille, Gadzinowski, Janusz, Lebeer, Jo, Ådén, Ulrika, Toome, Liis, van Heijst, Arno, Cuttini, Marina, Zeitlin, Jennifer
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01-04-2022; Elsevier
• Subjects: Child; Child, Preschool; Cohort Studies; Delivery of Health Care; Female; Humans; Infant, Extremely Premature; Infant, Newborn; Life Sciences; Medicin och hälsovetenskap; Parents; Pregnancy; Santé publique et épidémiologie; Surveys and Questionnaires; RR; SGA; ER; BPD
• ISSN: 0022-3476; 1097-6833; 1097-6833
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2021.12.006

To describe parent-reported healthcare service use at age 5 years in children born very preterm and investigate whether perinatal and social factors and the use of very preterm follow-up services are associated with high service use.
We used data from an area-based cohort of births at <32 weeks of gestation from 11 European countries, collected from birth records and parental questionnaires at 5 years of age. Using the published literature, we defined high use of outpatient/inpatient care (≥4 sick visits to general practitioners, pediatricians, or nurses, ≥3 emergency room visits, or ≥1 overnight hospitalization) and specialist care (≥2 different specialists or ≥3 visits). We also categorized countries as having either a high or a low rate of children using very preterm follow-up services at age 5 years.
Overall, 43% of children had high outpatient/inpatient care use and 48% had high specialist care use during the previous year. Perinatal factors were associated with high outpatient/inpatient and specialist care use, with a more significant association with specialist services. Associations with intermediate parental educational level and unemployment were stronger for outpatient/inpatient services. Living in a country with higher rates of very preterm follow-up service use was associated with lower use of outpatient/inpatient services.
Children born very preterm had high healthcare service use at age 5 years, with different patterns for outpatient/inpatient and specialist care by perinatal and social factors. Longer follow-up of children born very preterm may improve care coordination and help avoid undesirable health service use.