TABLE 1.
Patients’ characteristics.
| Variable | Paracetamol group n = 217 | Control group n = 121 | p value* | Paracetamol group n = 39 | Control group n = 17 | p value* |
| Gestational age (weeks) (median, IQR) | 29.9 (28.5; 31.2) | 30.7 (29.0; 31.4) | 0.020 ‡ | 26.7 (25.7; 27.4) | 26.9 (25.6; 27.4) | 0.979‡ |
| Gestational age below 28 weeks (n, %) | 39 (18.0) | 17 (14.0) | 0.352a | |||
| Birth weight (grams) (mean, SD) | 1296 ± 351 | 1361 ± 408 | 0.142° | 869 ± 208 | 799 ± 198 | 0.377‡ |
| Small for gestational age (n, %) | 13 (6.0) | 11 (9.1) | 0.287a | 3 (7.7) | 4 (23.5) | 0.099a |
| Male (n, %) | 126 (58.1) | 59 (48.8) | 0.099a | 22 (56.4) | 8 (47.1) | 0.519a |
| Antenatal steroids (n, %) | 200 (92.2) | 114 (95.0) | 0.323a | 37 (94.9) | 16 (94.1) | 0.908a |
| Premature rupture of membranes > 24 h (n, %) | 47 (21.7) | 21 (17.9) | 0.365a | 9 (23.1) | 7 (41.2) | 0.168a |
| Apgar Score 5 min < 7 (n, %) | 13 (6.0) | 10 (8.3) | 0.440a | 2 (5.1) | 7 (41.2) | <0.001a |
| Surfactant treatment (n, %) | 159 (74.0) | 89 (73.6) | 0.936a | 36 (92.3) | 16 (94.1) | 0.809a |
| Invasive ventilation (n, %) | 97 (44.7) | 69 (58) | 0.020‡ | 24 (61.5) | 13 (76.2) | 0.278a |
| Catecholamine therapy (n, %) | 10 (4.8) | 7 (5.8) | 0.797a | 3 (8.1) | 2 (11.8) | 0.667a |
| Early-onset sepsis (n, %) | 15 (6.9) | 4 (3.4) | 0.178a | 7 (17.9) | 3 (18.8) | 0.944a |
| Late-onset sepsis (n, %) | 21 (9.7) | 13 (10.7) | 0.755a | 10 (25.6) | 8 (47.1) | 0.115a |
| Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (n, %) | 38 (17.5) | 23 (19.0) | 0.732a | 28 (71.8) | 15 (88.2) | 0.180a |
| Necrotizing enterocolitis (n, %) | 6 (2.8) | 3 (2.5) | 0.833a | 2 (5.4) | 1 (5.9) | 0.943a |
| Patent ductus arteriosus (n, %) | 30 (13.8) | 12 (9.9) | 0.296a | 9 (23.1) | 4 (23.5) | 0.971a |
| Retinopathy of prematurity grade 3–4 (n, %) | 3 (1.5) | 6 (5.0) | 0.062a | 1 (2.7) | 2 (11.8) | 0.177a |
| Intracranial hemorrhage any grade (n, %) | 29 (13.4) | 12 (9.9) | 0.390a | 8 (20.5) | 4 (23.5) | 0.800a |
| Intracranial hemorrhage grade 3 or 4 (n, %) | 3 (1.4) | 3 (2.5) | 0.464a | 0 | 1 (5.9) | 0.126a |
Patients’ characteristics of the study cohort and by group and for infants born below 28 weeks gestational age with n (%), median (IQR = interquartile range), and mean (± standard deviation), *paracetamol vs. no paracetamol; P values are from the aχ2 test, Student’s t-test, and ‡Mann-Whitney U test, as appropriate.
In all variables the proportion of missing data was <5%. Bold means p < 0.05.