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Morbidity and Health Care Costs After Early Term Birth
Author(s) -
Helle Emmi,
Andersson Sture,
Häkkinen Unto,
Järvelin Jutta,
Eskelinen Janne,
Kajantie Eero
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
paediatric and perinatal epidemiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.667
H-Index - 88
eISSN - 1365-3016
pISSN - 0269-5022
DOI - 10.1111/ppe.12321
Subject(s) - medicine , pediatrics , confidence interval , odds ratio , health care , population , gestational age , cohort study , full term , pregnancy , environmental health , pathology , biology , economics , genetics , economic growth
Background Early term birth is associated with increased need for hospital care during the early postnatal period. The objective of this study was to assess the morbidity and health care‐related costs during the first 3 years of life in children born early term. Methods Data come from a population‐based birth cohort study in the municipalities of Helsinki, Espoo, and Vantaa, Finland using data from the national medical birth register and outpatient, inpatient, and primary care registers. All surviving infants born in 2006–08 ( n = 29 970) were included. The main outcome measures were morbidities, based on ICD ‐10 codes recorded during inpatient and outpatient hospital visits, and health care costs, based on all care received, including well child visits (specialised care, primary care, private care, and medications). Results 7.0% of children born full term had at least one of the studied morbidities by 3 years of age. This percentage was significantly higher in children born early term: 8.6% (adjusted odds ratio 1.2, 95% confidence interval ( CI ) 1.1, 1.4). The increased morbidity of children born early term was attributed to obstructive airway diseases and ophthalmological and motor problems. Health care‐related costs during the first 3 years of life were 4813€ (95% CI 4385, 5241) per child in the early term group, higher than for full term children 4047€ (95% CI 3884, 4210). Conclusions Infants born early term have increased morbidity and higher health care‐related costs during early childhood than full term infants. Early term birth seems to be associated with a health disadvantage.