Preterm delivery, level of care, and infant death in sweden: a population-based study.
OBJECTIVE
To elucidate the role of level of care in combination with other perinatal risk factors for infant death in very preterm deliveries.


METHODS
Population-based cohort study.


METHODS
Sweden, 1992-1998.


METHODS
Singleton infants (2285) born at 24 to 31 completed weeks of gestation to primiparous women.


METHODS
Infant mortality.


RESULTS
The rate of infant mortality increased from 5% among infants born at 31 weeks' gestation to 56% among infants born at 24 weeks' gestation. Compared with infants born at university hospitals, the unadjusted odds ratio (OR) of infant death was 0.70 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.54-0.90) among infants delivered at general hospitals. However, after adjustment, the OR of infant death shifted to 1.33 (95% CI: 0.88-2.02) for preterm births at general hospitals. This shift was primarily due to different gestational age distributions in regional and general hospitals. Among infants born at 24 to 27 weeks' gestation, infant mortality rates were 23% (87 deaths) in university hospitals and 32% (73 deaths) in general hospitals, giving an adjusted OR of 2.00 for general versus university hospitals (95% CI: 1.15-3.49). The risk of death at 24 to 27 weeks' gestation in general hospitals was increased specifically in pregnancies with placental complications.


CONCLUSIONS
Taking obstetric complications into account, there is an excess mortality risk among extremely preterm infants born at general hospitals.
Johansson
Stefan
S
Women and Child Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. stefan.johansson@ks.se
Montgomery
Scott M
SM
Ekbom
Anders
A
Olausson
Petra Otterblad
PO
Granath
Fredrik
F
Norman
Mikael
M
Cnattingius
Sven
S
D036861:Delivery, Obstetric; D005260:Female; D006769:Hospitals, General / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006785:Hospitals, University / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007226:Infant Mortality; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D015931:Intensive Care, Neonatal; D007752:Obstetric Labor, Premature / Q000628:therapy*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications; D012307:Risk Factors; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology