Mortality and hospitalizations of 24-year-old members of the low-birthweight cohort in northern Finland.
We followed 11,355 children born in 1966 up to the age of 24 years to investigate the impact of birthweight on long-term outcomes of death and development. As expected, low-birthweight (LBW, 1500-2,499 gm) children showed a higher risk of death than normal-birthweight (NBW, > or =2,500 gm) children before the age of 15 years. Rate ratios for LBW children ranged from 25 for the first week of life to 2.5 for ages 5-14 years. Rate ratios of very-low-birthweight (VLBW, <1,500 gm) children for the first year of life were 10 times higher than those of LBW children. Similarly, for the first 14 years of life, surviving LBW children experienced a higher risk of being hospitalized as well as staying in hospitals for over 2 weeks if they were hospitalized. The LBW children still had a higher risk of receiving sick pensions at the age of 24 years.
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Unit of Environmental Epidemiology, National Public Health Institute, Kuopio, Finland.
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Järvelin
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D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland / Q000453:epidemiology; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006304:Health Status; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007230:Infant, Low Birth Weight; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D009026:Mortality; D012307:Risk Factors