Table 3.
Clinical characteristics and short-term outcome of the study group depending on vaginal and intrauterine Ureaplasma spp. colonization status
| U. spp. detection vaginal/intrauterine | Total | Group A U.spp. neg/neg | Group B U.spp. pos/neg | Group C U.spp. pos/pos | p value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Infants, n (%) | 104 (100.0) | 45 (43.3) | 43 (41.3) | 16 (15.4) | |
| Clinical characteristics | |||||
| Gestational age, wGA | 28.9 (27.1–31.0) | 28.9 (27.6–30.6) | 30.0 (27.4–31.1) | 26.1 (25.9–29.9) | 0.005 |
| Weight, g | 1,110 (840–1,389) | 1,125 (975–1,353) | 1,180 (840–1,410) | 851 (763–1,155) | 0.086 |
| Male sex | 57 (54.8) | 27 (60.0) | 19 (44.2) | 11 (68.8) | 0.157 |
| Antenatal steroids | 102 (98.1) | 44 (97.8) | 42 (97.7) | 16 (100.0) | 0.830 |
| Singleton pregnancy | 42 (40.4) | 16 (35.6) | 18 (41.9) | 8 (50.0) | 0.580 |
| Cord blood-pH | 7.32 (7.29–7.36) | 7.33 (7.29–7.39) | 7.32 (7.29–7.34) | 7.31 (7.27–7.35) | 0.401 |
| Apgar 1 | 8 (7–8) | 8 (7–8) | 8 (6–8) | 8 (7–8) | 0.066 |
| Apgar 5 | 8 (8–9) | 9 (8–9) | 8 (8–9) | 8 (8–9) | 0.121 |
| Apgar 10 | 9 (9–9) | 9 (9–9) | 9 (9–9) | 9 (9–9) | 0.104 |
| Short-term outcome | |||||
| Ventilation 1st week | 25 (24.0) | 9 (20.0) | 9 (20.9) | 7 (43.8) | 0.133 |
| Any IVH | 17 (16.5) | 6 (13.3) | 6 (14.0) | 5 (31.3) | 0.224 |
| Severe IVH | 8 (7.8) | 1 (2.3) | 2 (4.7) | 5 (31.3) | 0.001a* |
| NEC | 7 (7.1) | 1 (2.3) | 3 (7.3) | 3 (20.0) | 0.071b |
| Any ROP | 24 (24.2) | 7 (15.9) | 9 (22.5) | 8 (53.3) | 0.013a# |
| Severe ROP | 5 (5.1) | 1 (2.3) | 2 (5.0) | 2 (13.3) | 0.240 |
| BPD 28 daysc | 39 (38.6) | 17 (38.6) | 13 (31.0) | 9 (60.0) | 0.140 |
| BPD 36 weeksc | 6 (6.1) | 2 (4.7) | 0 (0.0) | 4 (26.7) | 0.001a° |
Data are presented as n (%)/(IQR).
U.spp., Ureaplasma species; wGA, weeks of gestational age; IQR, interquartile range; g, gram; EOS, early-onset sepsis; IVH, intraventricular haemorrhage; ROP, retinopathy of prematurity; BPD, bronchopulmonary dysplasia; NEC, necrotising enterocolitis.
a p value <0.05 group U.spp. vaginal positive/intrauterine positive compared to group U.spp. vaginal negative/intrauterine negative as well as to group U.spp. vaginal positive/intrauterine negative.
b p value <0.05 group U.spp. vaginal positive/intrauterine positive compared to group U.spp. vaginal negative/intrauterine negative.
cOnly patients surviving 28 days of life (n = 101)/36 weeks of adjusted age (n = 98), respectively, are included.
*p value = 0.005 after correction for gestational age.
# p value = 0.016 after correction for gestational age.
° p value = 0.072 (ns) after correction for gestational age.