Hearing loss by week of gestation and birth weight in very preterm neonates

Objective To gain insight into health and related costs associated with very preterm births, one needs accurate information about the prevalence of the disabling conditions, including neonatal hearing loss (NHL). Study design We assessed the prevalence of NHL by week of gestation and categories of birth weight in very preterm neonates. Results...

JGZ-richtlijn 'Te vroeg en/of small for gestational age (SGA) geboren kinderen [Dutch Preventive Youth Health Care Service guideline on children born too early and/or too small for gestational age]

Conflict of interest and financial support: disclosure forms provided by the authors are available along with the full text of this article at www.ntvg.nl, search for A6745; click on ‘Belangenverstrengeling’ (‘Conflict of interest’). The Netherlands Organization for Health Research and Development provided a subsidy (subsidy no 156000009) to the...

Perinatal risk indicators for long-term neurological morbidity among preterm neonates

Objective: Many obstetric interventions are performed to improve long-term neonatal outcome. However, long-term neonatal outcome is usually not a primary outcome because it is time-consuming and expensive. The aim of this project was to identify different perinatal risk indicators and to develop prediction models for neurologic morbidity at 2...

The diagnostic work up of growth failure in secondary health care ; An evaluation of consensus guidelines

Background: As abnormal growth might be the first manifestation of undetected diseases, it is important to have accurate referral criteria and a proper diagnostic work-up. In the present paper we evaluate the diagnostic work-up in secondary health care according to existing consensus guidelines and study the frequency of underlying medical...

Is attrition bias a problem in neonatal follow-up?

Aim: To assess whether attrition rate influences outcome in the follow-up of very preterm infants. Study design: In a national follow-up study of infants born alive in 1983 in the Netherlands with a gestational age less than 32 weeks and/or a birth weight less than 1500 g, outcome was assessed separately for adolescents who responded early or...

Nonresponse bias in a follow-up study of 19-year-old adolescents born as preterm infants

Objective. To assess the effect of demographic and neonatal risk factors and outcome at the last available assessment on the probability of full responders, postal responders (those who only responded to the mailed questionnaire), or nonresponders in a follow-up study of 19-year-old adolescents who were born as preterm infants. Design. The 19...

Catch-up growth up to ten years of age in children born very preterm or with very low birth weight

Background: Improved survival due to advances in neonatal care has brought issues such as postnatal growth and development more to the focus of our attention. Most studies report stunting in children born very preterm and/or small for gestational age. In this article we study the growth pattern of these children and aim to identify factors...

Uitkomsten van een Nederlandse cohort van zeer vroeg geboren kinderen uit 1983 [Outcome of a Dutch cohort of very preterm infants born in 1983]

In 1983, Dutch paediatricians collaborated on a national level and collected perinatal data on 1338 liveborn infants with a gestational age < 32 weeks and/or a birthweight < 1500 g (Project on preterm and small for gestational age infants, POPS). Their outcome was assessed at 2 years of age by their paediatricians, at 5 years by a team of...

School performance at nine years of age in very premature and very low birth weight infants: Perinatal risk factors and predictors at five years of age

To assess the impact of both perinatal disorders and developmental problems identified at preschool age on school performance, we followed a virtually complete birth cohort of very premature (<32 completed weeks of gestation) and very low birth weight infants until they were 9 years of age. In 84% of the survivors (n = 813), data on school...

Differential misclassification of alcohol and cigarette consumption by pregnancy outcome

Background. The validity of the results of studies using retrospectively collected information on exposures is often criticized, because cases may report differently from controls even if their true exposure status is the same. This study was performed to quantify the extent to which this effect (differential misclassification) may occur for...