Early severe weight loss in newborns after discharge from regular nurseries.
OBJECTIVE
To study incidence and risk factors of early neonatal dehydration in a Norwegian population based cohort.


METHODS
Term neonates admitted to a paediatric department during 2002-2008 with a weight loss > or = 12% within three weeks of age were identified retrospectively through review of medical records. For each patient a sex-matched control group of two full-term infants was selected to assess risk factors for dehydration.


RESULTS
A total of 38 of 37 321 infants (1.0 per thousand) were admitted at a median age of 6 (interquartile range 5-12) days, and the admission rate increased during the study period (p for trend = 0.008). Simultaneously, mean nursery stay decreased from 3.5 to 2.7 days (p = 0.022). Mean weight loss was 15.0% of birth weight and 17 of 29 (58.6%) had serum sodium above 145 mmol/L. The only significant difference between patients and controls was that mothers of patients were older (32.3 +/- 5.0 vs. 29.4 +/- 5.4 years, p = 0.005).


CONCLUSIONS
Short nursery stay may be a risk factor for dehydration in newborn infants.
Tjora
E
E
Department of Paediatrics, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, NorwaySection for Paediatrics, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Bergen, Bergen, NorwayDepartment of Gynaecology, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, NorwayDepartment of Public Health and Primary Health Care, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
Karlsen
L C
LC
Department of Paediatrics, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, NorwaySection for Paediatrics, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Bergen, Bergen, NorwayDepartment of Gynaecology, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, NorwayDepartment of Public Health and Primary Health Care, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
Moster
D
D
Department of Paediatrics, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, NorwaySection for Paediatrics, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Bergen, Bergen, NorwayDepartment of Gynaecology, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, NorwayDepartment of Public Health and Primary Health Care, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
Markestad
T
T
Department of Paediatrics, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, NorwaySection for Paediatrics, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Bergen, Bergen, NorwayDepartment of Gynaecology, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, NorwayDepartment of Public Health and Primary Health Care, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
D001942:Breast Feeding / Q000009:adverse effects*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003681:Dehydration / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D009664:Norway / Q000453:epidemiology; D009725:Nurseries, Hospital; D010351:Patient Discharge; D010359:Patient Readmission / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D015431:Weight Loss