Table 1. Characteristics of VLBW infants compared to those of term born infants.
| Characteristics | VLBW | Term |
| Participants, n | 144 | 139 |
| Males, n (%) | 60 (41.7) | 55 (39.6) |
| Maternal preeclampsia a , n (%) | 32 (22.2) | 11 (7.9) |
| Maternal hypertension in pregnancy without proteinuria a , n (%) | 5 (3.5) | 21 (15.1) |
| Maternal smoking during pregnancy a , n (%) | 28 (19.4) | 20 (14.4) |
| Placental weight, g, mean (SD) | 435 (186) | 649 (125) |
| Birth weight, g, mean (SD) | 1,127 (218) | 3,600 (471) |
| Gestational age, wk, mean (SD) | 29.3 (2.2) | 40.1 (1.1) |
| SD score for birth weight, mean (SD) | −1.3 (1.5) | 0.1 (1.0) |
| SD score for birth weight <−2.0, n (%) | 49 (34.0) | 0 (0) |
| Maternal chorionamnionitis b , n (%) | 26 (18.1) | |
| Premature rupture of the membranes b , n (%) | 24 (16.7) | |
| Culture-positive sepsis during neonatal period b , n (%) | 11 (7.6) | |
| Mechanical ventilation b , d, median (25th and 75th percentile) | 5 (0–14) | |
| Oxygen b , d, median (25th and 75th percentile) | 13 (3–33) | |
| Bronchopulmonary dysplasia b , n (%) | 26 (18.1) |
a
p-Value was 0.001 for VLBW versus term babies for maternal preeclampsia, 0.001 for maternal hypertension, and 0.26 for maternal smoking (Pearson's chi-squared test).
b
For the VLBW group only, data were collected during neonatal intensive care.