Table 2.
Units’ characteristics according to the three clusters of units
| Cluster * 1 | Cluster * 2 | Cluster * 3 | P value† | ||||
| n=26 units | n=11 units | n=16 units | |||||
| University hospital | 21/26 | 80.8 | 7/11 | 63.6 | 8/16 | 50.0 | 0.11 |
| NICU only ‡ | 14/26 | 53.8 | 8/11 | 72.7 | 12/16 | 75.0 | 0.31 |
| Number of beds, median (IQR) | 10 (8 to 14) | 11 (8 to 16) | 12 (8 to 16) | 0.61 | |||
| Annual number of admission before 31 weeks in 2011, median (IQR) | 91 (75 to 118) | 90 (64 to 112) | 86 (64 to 119) | 0.74 | |||
| Neonatal surgery available for | |||||||
| Necrotising enterocolitis | 22/26 | 84.6 | 9/11 | 81.8 | 7/16 | 43.8 | 0.012 |
| Patent ductus arteriosus | 20/26 | 76.9 | 8/11 | 72.7 | 4/16 | 25.0 | 0.002 |
| Ventriculoperitoneal shunt | 13/26 | 50.0 | 4/11 | 36.4 | 2/16 | 12.5 | 0.048 |
| Neurodevelopmental care training | |||||||
| NIDCAP | 7/26 | 26.9 | 2/11 | 18.2 | 1/16 | 6.3 | 0.023 |
| Sensory motor programme | 2/26 | 7.7 | 5/11 | 45.5 | 1/16 | 6.3 | |
| Introductory course | 9/26 | 34.6 | 1/11 | 9.1 | 5/16 | 31.3 | |
| No training | 8/26 | 30.8 | 3/11 | 27.3 | 9/16 | 56.3 | |
NICU only without paediatric intensive care unit
*Clusters are defined according to the distribution of care within units using a hierarchical analysis.
†χ2 test for categorical variables or Kruskal-Wallis tests for quantitative variable.
‡Units admitting neonates only, without a paediatric intensive care unit.
NICU, neonatal intensive care unit; NIDCAP, Neonatal Individualised Developmental Care and Assessment Program.