title: Antibiotic Treatment and Length of Hospital Stay in Relation to Delivery Mode and Prematurity.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate how 1) maternal delivery mode and 2) prematurity in infants are associated to antibiotic treatment and length of hospital stay.
  
  
  METHODS
  Women having given birth and infants 0-12 months discharged from hospital between July 2005 and November 2011 were identified from the Swedish National Patient Register. Medical records were reviewed for 203 women and 527 infants. The risk ratio (RR) between antibiotic treatment and 1) delivery mode in women; 2) prematurity in infants was calculated. Length of stay and days of antibiotic therapy were compared by Wilcoxon rank-sum test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Women: There was an association between emergency caesarean section (CS) and antibiotic treatment (RR 5.0 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.2-11.5), but not for elective CS. Length of stay was longer for CS (emergency and elective) compared to vaginal delivery (p<0.01). Infants: RR for antibiotic treatment in preterm compared to term infants was 1.4 (95% CI 1.0-1.9). Length of stay (p<0.01), but not days of therapy (p = 0.17), was higher in preterm compared to term infants.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We found that emergency CS increased the probability of maternal antibiotic treatment during hospitalisation, but no difference was found between term and preterm infants. The results are well aligned with current guidelines and may be considered in future studies on the effects of antibiotics.
authors.affiliation: Dept of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Katia M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Ahlén
authors.affiliation: Dept of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Anne K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Örtqvist
authors.affiliation: Dept of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Tong
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gong
authors.affiliation: Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Alva
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wallas
authors.affiliation: Dept of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Weimin
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.affiliation: Dept of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Cecilia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lundholm
authors.affiliation: Dept of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.|Astrid Lindgren Children's Hospital, Lung and Allergy Unit, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Catarina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Almqvist
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000009:adverse effects*; D002585:Cesarean Section / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D036861:Delivery, Obstetric / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D036801:Parturition / Q000187:drug effects*; D011247:Pregnancy
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents