Table 1.
Clinical characteristics of the full-term infants and the preterm infants in the three intervention groups.
| Group | Full-term reference (n = 9) |
Preterm Prebiotic (n = 17) |
Preterm Probiotic (n = 14) |
Preterm Placebo (n = 12) |
P (a/b) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gestational age (weeks) | 40.1 (1.4) | 34.5 (1.2) | 35.2 (1.1) | 34.7 (1.2) | NS/.000 |
| Vaginal delivery (yes) | 9 (100%) | 11 (65%) | 10 (71%) | 7 (58%) | NS/NS |
| Antenatal corticosteroids (yes) | 0 (0%) | 12 (71%) | 5 (36%) | 5 (42%) | NS/.006 |
| Intrapartum antibiotics (yes) | 0 (0%) | 4 (24%) | 5 (36%) | 5 (42%) | NS/NS |
| Sex (female) | 6 (67%) | 10 (59%) | 4 (29%) | 2 (17%) | .049/.038 |
| Birth weight (g) | 3483 (642) | 2221 (392) | 2600 (416) | 2305 (455) | .046/.000 |
| 5-minute Apgar score | 9 (1) | 8 (3) | 8 (2) | 8 (1) | NS/NS |
| Need of NICU care | 0 (0%) | 13 (76%) | 11 (79%) | 9 (75%) | NS/.000 |
| Number of days treated in NICU | - | 13 (9) | 8 (4) | 12 (8) | NS/- |
| Postnatal antibiotic treatment | 0 (0%) | 9 (53%) | 10 (71%) | 8 (67%) | NS/.005 |
| Length of postnatal antibiotic treatment (days) | 0 | 1.8 (2.3) | 2.3 (2.3) | 1.8 (1.9) | NS/NS |
| Breastfed at the age of 1 mo (yes) | 9 (100%) | 17 (100%) | 14 (100%) | 11 (92 5) | NS/NS |
| Total length of breastfeeding (mo) | 11.2 (5.9) | 5.0 (2.4) | 7.3 (4.7) | 4.4 (4.7) | NS/.003 |
| Antibiotic courses during the first 12 mo (yes) | 0 (0%) | 10 (59%) | 13 (93%) | 11 (92%) | .031/.000 |
| Number of antibiotic courses during the first 12 mo (yes)* | 0 (0%) | 1.2 (1.5) | 1.5 (1.0) | 1.4 (1.1) | NS/.018 |
The data are presented as means (SD) for continuous variables and as numbers (percentage) for categorical variables.
The statistical analyses were made a) among the three preterm intervention groups and b) among the full-term and preterm study groups. The variables were analyzed using the χ2 test and Fisher´s exact test for dichotomous and analysis of variance (ANOVA) or Kruskal-Wallis test for continuous variables.
*Data informed by the parents.
NICU – neonatal intensive care unit.