title: Improved outcomes of outborn preterm infants if admitted to perinatal centers versus freestanding pediatric hospitals.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine whether admission hospital type (13 perinatal centers vs 4 freestanding pediatric hospitals) was associated with differences in risk and illness severity adjusted mortality and morbidity among outborn preterm infants.
  
  
  METHODS
  Records of singleton outborn infants < or =32 weeks' gestational age (n = 605) admitted to 17 tertiary level neonatal intensive care units participating in the Canadian Neonatal Network for the period 1996 to 1997 were examined.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Outborn infants admitted to freestanding pediatric hospitals were at higher risk of death (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 2.25; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.20, 4.20), nosocomial infection (AOR, 2.48; 95% CI, 1.64, 3.73), and oxygen dependency at 28 days of age (AOR, 1.77; 95% CI, 1.14, 2.75) when compared with outborn infants admitted to perinatal centers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  After adjustment for perinatal risks and admission illness severity, outborn infants had better outcomes if they were admitted to perinatal centers compared with freestanding pediatric hospitals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Mount Sinai Hospital, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Prakesh S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.forename: Vibhuti
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.forename: Zhenguo
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.forename: Arne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ohlsson
authors.forename: Shoo K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D001034:Apgar Score; D002170:Canada / Q000453:epidemiology; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000453:epidemiology; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006776:Hospitals, Pediatric; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007232:Infant, Newborn, Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000401:mortality; D007234:Infant, Premature; D007363:Intensive Care Units, Neonatal; D008297:Male; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016896:Treatment Outcome