Table 1.
Characteristics of the 410 very preterm study infants+
| Variable Description | Description | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Maternal and Prenatal Information | ||
| Prenatal steroids given (any) | No. (%) | 364 (89) |
| Non-Hispanic black | No. (%) | 117 (29) |
| Mother had hypertension/eclampsia | No. (%) | 100 (24) |
| Mother had prepartum hemorrhage | No. (%) | 75 (18) |
| Mother’s age (years) | Median (range) | 26 (14, 45) |
| Pregnancy history, gravida | Median (range) | 2 (1, 10) |
| Pregnancy history, parity | Median (range) | 2 (1, 10) |
| Prenatal care (≥ 1 prenatal care visit) | No. (%) | 395 (96) |
| Multiple birth | No. (%) | 127 (31) |
| Mother was married | No. (%) | 234 (57) |
| Labor and Delivery Information | ||
| Presence of labor | No. (%) | 222 (54) |
| Tocolytic agent used | No. (%) | 235 (57) |
| Infant birth weight (grams) | Median (range) | 1039 (424,1500) |
| Gestational age (weeks) | Median (range) | 28 (23,32) |
| Postnatal Infant Information | ||
| Infant antibiotic use ≥ 5 days | No. (%) | 151 (37) |
| 5-min Apgar score of <3 | No. (%) | 19 (5) |
| 5-min Apgar score of 3–6 | No. (%) | 76 (19) |
| Male | No. (%) | 183 (45) |
| Clinical features of respiratory distress syndrome | No. (%) | 366 (89) |
| Indomethacin given within 24 hours | No. (%) | 118 (29) |
| Number of days with conventional ventilation at day 7 | Median (range) | 1 (0,7) |
| Number of days with high-frequency ventilation at day 7 | Median (range) | 0 (0,7) |
| Breast milk given within in 24 hours prior to sample collection+ | No. (%) | 254 (70) |
| Hospital site | ||
| Hospital A NICU* | No. (%) | 273 (67) |
+
The clinical factors reported are those previously identified by Ambalavanan et al 3 as predictors of death that had complete data for analysis in this study. We also included history of feeding breast milk to the study infant within 24 hours prior to sample collection.
*
The hospital NICU site was included in the model as the largest hospital vs. the other two sites combined.