Table 3. Any neurodevelopmental impairment and postnatal dexamethasone exposure.

	Any neurodevelopmental impairment n = 201 49%
	N	Unadjusted proportions	Adjusted proportions 1
Dexamethasone exposure		p-value<0.001
No	292	0.43	0.45
Yes	120	0.63	0.59
Difference (95% CI)
Yes vs no		0.19 (0.09, 0.30)	0.14 (0.02, 0.26)
Timing of dexamethasone		Overall p-value: <0.001	Overall p-value: <0.001
None	292	0.43	0.45
Early	9	0.56	0.56
Late	111	0.63	0.59
Differences (95% CI)
Early vs none		0.12 (-0.21, 0.45)	0.11 (-0.22, 0.45)
Late vs none		0.20 (0.09, 0.31)	0.14 (0.02, 0.27)
No. of courses		Overall p-value: <0.001	Overall p-value: 0.001
0 course	292	0.43	0.45
1 course	76	0.62	0.59
2 courses	31	0.61	0.58
3 courses	13	0.69	0.57
Differences (95% CI)
1 vs 0 courses		0.19 (0.06, 0.31)	0.14 (0.01, 0.28)
2 vs 0 courses		0.18 (0.00, 0.36)	0.13 (-0.06, 0.32)
3 vs 0 courses		0.26 (0.00, 0.52)	0.12 (-0.21, 0.45)
No. of days of exposure		Overall p-value: <0.001	Overall p-value: <0.001
0	292	0.43	0.45
1–6	24	0.75	0.70
7–12	44	0.50	0.45
>12	51	0.67	0.65
Differences (95% CI)
1–6 vs 0		0.32 (0.14, 0.50)	0.25 (0.06, 0.45)
7–12 vs 0		0.07 (-0.09, 0.23)	0.00 (-0.18, 0.18)
>12 vs 0		0.24 (0.09, 0.38)	0.21 (0.05, 0.37)

¹. Adjusted for sex, birthweight z-score, gestational age in weeks, maternal smoking in pregnancy, oxygen dependency at 36 weeks PMA, airleak, patent ductus arteriosus, pulmonary haemorrhage, major neonatal ultrasound abnormality, ventilation group and age at 24 month assessment using multiple logistic regression analysis.