Home oxygen status and rehospitalisation and primary care requirements of infants with chronic lung disease.
OBJECTIVE
To determine whether the rehospitalisation and primary care requirements of infants with chronic lung disease (CLD) during the first two years after birth were influenced by a requirement for supplementary oxygen after discharge from the neonatal intensive care unit.


METHODS
Review of records from both the hospital and general practitioner.


METHODS
235 infants, median gestational age 27 (range 22-31) weeks, 88 of whom were receiving supplementary oxygen when discharged home.


RESULTS
Overall, the infants required a median of 2 (range 0-20) admissions per patient, 8 (0-41) outpatient attendances, 13 (0-76) contacts with the general practitioner, and 17 (0-169) consultations with other primary healthcare professionals. The home oxygen patients required significantly more and longer admissions (p < 0.01) and more outpatient attendances (p < 0.05). The total cost of care per infant of the home oxygen group was greater (p < 0.001); this reflected higher costs for hospital stay (p < 0.01), total inpatient care (p < 0.01), and primary care drugs (p < 0.01).


CONCLUSIONS
Despite routine use of antenatal steroids and postnatal surfactant, certain patients with CLD, particularly those who receive home oxygen treatment, show high rates of utilisation of health service resources after discharge from the neonatal care unit.
Greenough
A
A
Department of Child Health, King's College Hospital, London, UK. anne.greenough@kcl.ac.uk
Alexander
J
J
Burgess
S
S
Chetcuti
P A J
PA
Cox
S
S
Lenney
W
W
Turnbull
F
F
Shaw
N J
NJ
Woods
A
A
Boorman
J
J
Coles
S
S
Turner
J
J
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007235:Infant, Premature, Diseases / Q000191:economics / Q000628:therapy*; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D020380:Needs Assessment; D010102:Oxygen Inhalation Therapy / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010359:Patient Readmission / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000191:economics / Q000628:therapy*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric