Table 1.
Baseline information on patients (n = 326) included in the study on sex, age at admission, length of stay at the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), treatment outcome and diagnoses
| Patients with admission samples (n = 326) | Patients with both admission and discharge samples (n = 248) | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Admission + | Admission − | p | Total | Discharge + | Discharge − | p | Admission + Discharge − | Admission − Discharge + | p | Admission − Discharge − | p | Admission + Discharge + | p | |
| Number of patients | 326 | 69 | 257 | – | 248 | 184 | 64 | – | 5 | 137 | 59 | 47 | – | ||
| Sex | |||||||||||||||
| Female | 118 (37%) | 28 (8.5%) | 90 (28%) | 0.39 | 91 (37%) | 73 (30%) | 18 (7%) | 0.13 | 0 | 49 (20%) | 0.59 | 18 (7%) | 0.22 | 24 (10%) | 0.042 |
| Male | 202 (63%) | 39 (12%) | 163 (50%) | 153 (63%) | 108 (44%) | 45 (18%) | 5 (2%) | 86 (35%) | 40 (16%) | 22 (9%) | |||||
| Missing data | 6 (2%) | 2 (0.6%) | 4 (1%) | – | 4 (2%) | 3 (1%) | 1 (0.4%) | – | 0 | 2 (1%) | – | 1 (0.4%) | – | 1 (0.4%) | – |
| Age at admission | |||||||||||||||
| Median (days) | 4 | 16 | 3 | < 0.001 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 0.03 | 5 | 3 | – | 3 | – | 16 | < 0.001 |
| Missing data | 13 (4%) | 2 (0.6%) | 11 (3%) | – | 8 (3%) | 7 (3%) | 1 (0.4%) | – | 0 | 7 (3%) | – | 1 (0.4%) | – | 0 | – |
| Stay at NICU | |||||||||||||||
| Median (days) | 5 | 6 | 5 | 0.26 | 5 | 7 | 3 | < 0.001 | 5 | 7 | – | 3 | – | 9 | < 0.001 |
| Missing data | 19 (6%) | 4 (1%) | 15 (5%) | – | 10 (4%) | 8 (3%) | 2 (1%) | – | 1 (0.4%) | 7 (3%) | – | 1 (0.4%) | – | 1 (0.4%) | – |
| Treatment outcome | |||||||||||||||
| Deceased | 57 (18%) | 19 (6%) | 38 (12%) | 0.012 | 42 (17%) | 35 (14%) | 7 (3%) | 0.118 | 1 (0.4%) | 22 (9%) | 0.69 | 6 (2%) | 0.097 | 13 (5%) | 0.023 |
| Withdrawn | 24 (8%) | 10 (3%) | 14 (4%) | 0.1 | 21 (9%) | 17 (7%) | 4 (2%) | 0.43 | 0 | 8 (3%) | 0.1 | 4 (2%) | 0.56 | 9 (4%) | 0.003 |
| Discharged | 34 (11%) | 9 (3%) | 25 (8%) | 0.41 | 30 (12%) | 27 (11%) | 3 (1%) | 0.3 | 0 | 19 (8%) | 0.34 | 3 (2%) | 0.051 | 8 (3%) | 0.22 |
| Transferred | 204 (64%) | 29 (9%) | 175 (54%) | < 0.001 | 150 (62%) | 100 (40%) | 50 (20%) | 0.002 | 4 (2%) | 85 (34%) | 0.54 | 46 (19%) | 0.003 | 15 (6%) | < 0.001 |
| Missing data | 7 (2%) | 2 (0.6%) | 5 (2%) | – | 5 (2%) | 5 (2%) | 1 (0.4%) | – | 0 | 3 (1%) | – | 0 | – | 2 (1%) | – |
| Diagnosis | |||||||||||||||
| RSD | 203 (65%) | 43 (13%) | 160 (49%) | 0.58 | 158 (66%) | 125 (50%) | 33 (13%) | 0.018 | 4 (2%) | 95 (38%) | 0.076 | 29 (12%) | 0.008 | 30 (12%) | 0.69 |
| Pre-term | 82 (26%) | 17 (5%) | 65 (20%) | 0.9 | 70 (29%) | 51 (21%) | 19 (8%) | 0.75 | 1 (0.4%) | 39 (16%) | 0.95 | 17 (7%) | 0.88 | 12 (5%) | 0.77 |
| Pneumonia | 71 (23%) | 21 (6%) | 50 (15%) | 0.026 | 58 (24%) | 48 (19%) | 10 (4%) | 0.09 | 0 | 31 (13%) | 0.65 | 10 (4%) | 0.19 | 17 (7%) | 0.012 |
| Sepsis | 41 (13%) | 8 (2%) | 33 (10%) | 0.9 | 38 (16%) | 31 (13%) | 7 (3%) | 0.26 | 1 (0.4%) | 24 (10%) | 0.33 | 6 (2%) | 0.21 | 7 (3%) | 0.98 |
| CHD | 26 (8%) | 13 (4%) | 13 (4%) | < 0.001 | 16 (7%) | 13 (5%) | 3 (1%) | 0.51 | 1 (0.4%) | 5 (2%) | 0.039 | 2 (1%) | 0.28 | 8 (3%) | < 0.001 |
| Hyperbilirubinemia | 26 (8%) | 1 (0.3%) | 25 (8%) | 0.03 | 21 (9%) | 15 (6%) | 6 (2%) | 0.76 | 1 (0.4%) | 15 (6%) | 0.14 | 5 (2%) | 0.99 | 0 | 0.023 |
| PDA | 11 (4%) | 4 (1%) | 7 (2%) | 0.18 | 7 (3%) | 5 (2%) | 2 (1%) | 0.86 | 0 | 2 (1%) | 0.14 | 2 (1%) | 0.76 | 3 (1%) | 0.087 |
| Gastroenteritis | 8 (3%) | 1 (0.3%) | 7 (2%) | 0.58 | 6 (2%) | 4 (2%) | 2 (1%) | 0.67 | 0 | 3 (1%) | 0.76 | 2 (1%) | 0.57 | 1 (0.4%) | 0.92 |
| Pulmonary hypertension | 7 (2%) | 0 | 7 (2%) | 0.18 | 4 (2%) | 1 (0.4%) | 3 (1%) | 0.023 | 0 | 1 (0.4%) | 0.21 | 3 (1%) | 0.015 | 0 | 0.34 |
| Asphyxia | 6 (2%) | 1 (0.3%) | 5 (2%) | 0.83 | 5 (2%) | 4 (2%) | 1 (0.4%) | 0.77 | 0 | 3 (1%) | 0.86 | 1 (0.4%) | 0.85 | 1 (0.4%) | 0.92 |
| Pleural effusion | 5 (2%) | 0 | 5 (2%) | 0.26 | 5 (2%) | 4 (2%) | 1 (0.4%) | 0.77 | 0 | 4 (2%) | 0.28 | 1 (0.4%) | 0.85 | 0 | 0.29 |
| Other | 71 (23%) | 18 (6%) | 53 (16%) | – | 49 (20%) | 34 (14%) | 15 (6%) | – | 1 (0.4%) | 23 (9%) | – | 14 (6%) | – | 11 (4%) | – |
| Missing data | 15 (5%) | 6 (2%) | 9 (3%) | – | 7 (3%) | 5 (2%) | 2 (1%) | – | 0 | 2 (1%) | – | 2 (1%) | – | 3 (1%) | – |
Since discharge samples were not collected from all patients, patients with admission samples (i.e., all included samples) were analysed as a set in terms of all included patients and characteristics of admission-positive and admission-negative patients, whereas analyses in terms of discharge-positive and discharge-negative were analysed on a smaller set of patients including all patients from whom discharge samples were taken (n = 248). Due to the large number of comparisons, associations were considered significant for p < 0.01 (marked in bold). Due to the low number of patients which were positive at admission but negative at discharge (n = 5), this cohort was excluded from the statistical analysis
RSD, Respiratory distress syndrome; CHD, Congenital heart disease; PDA, Persistent ductus arteriosus