Table 2.
Characteristics of infants admitted to the NICU during each period of the project.
| Characteristics | Pre-guideline (January 2017–December 2018) | Post-guideline (January 2019–December 2019) | pa |
|---|---|---|---|
| Admissions | |||
| Number | 1388 | 678 | |
| Per month, median (range) | 58.5 (43–70) | 57.5 (48–68) | 0.55 |
| Sex, n (%) | |||
| Male | 777 (56.0) | 402 (59.3) | 0.16 |
| Female | 611 (44.0) | 276 (40.7) | |
| Gestational age at birth, completed weeks: median (range) | 37 (22–42) | 37 (22–42) | 0.63 |
| Gestational age at birth, completed weeks, n (%) | |||
| <25 | 63 (4.5) | 25 (3.7) | 0.46 |
| 25–29 | 129 (9.3) | 60 (8.9) | |
| 30–34 | 220 (15.9) | 128 (18.9) | |
| 35–36 | 209 (15.1) | 97 (14.3) | |
| ≥37 | 767 (55.3) | 368 (54.3) | |
| Birth weight, g: median (range) | 2780 (369–5202) | 2750 (415–4730) | 0.98 |
| PMA at admission, completed weeks: median (range) | 40 (23–78) | 40 (24–70) | 0.40 |
| PMA at admission, completed weeks, n (%) | |||
| <25 | 6 (0.4) | 1 (0.1) | 0.42 |
| 25–29 | 40 (2.9) | 25 (3.7) | |
| 30–34 | 106 (7.6) | 63 (9.3) | |
| 35–36 | 104 (7.5) | 52 (7.7) | |
| ≥37 | 1132 (81.6) | 537 (79.2) | |
| Postnatal age on admission, d: median (range) | 12 (0–302) | 12 (0–256) | 0.90 |
| Length of stay, d: median (range) | 5 (0–256) | 5 (0–173) | 0.58 |
| Surgical diagnosis, n (%) | 357 (25.7) | 165 (24.3) | 0.50 |
| Sepsis, n (%) | 62 (4.5) | 33 (4.9) | 0.68 |
| NEC, n (%) | 40 (2.9) | 16 (2.4) | 0.49 |
| Thrombosis, n (%) | 26 (1.9) | 13 (1.9) | 0.94 |
| Death, n (%) | 44 (3.2) | 19 (2.8) | 0.65 |
PMA post-menstrual age.
aContinuous distributions compared by Wilcoxon rank-sum test. Discrete distributions compared by chi-squared test, with corroboration from Fisher exact test.