Has the prevalence of handicapped infants increased with improved survival of the very low birth weight infant?
Several methodologic issues affect the literature on the outcomes of very low birth weight children, making assessing trends difficult. A conservative estimate is that the proportion of handicapped survivors has remained stable, and with increasing survival, the absolute numbers will increase, but many studies suggest decreasing proportions with handicap. Suggestions for improving responses to the questions are proposed.
McCormick
M C
MC
Department of Maternal and Child Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts.
D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007230:Infant, Low Birth Weight; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D015995:Prevalence; D016896:Treatment Outcome