Table 4.
Feeding tolerance, growth, and other secondary outcomes in 320 very preterm infants without death, sepsis, and/or necrotising enterocolitis *.
| No Probiotics (n = 187) |
Probiotics (n = 133) |
Crude RR (95% CI) |
Adjusted RR a
(95% CI) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Parental nutrition b, days (SD) | 7.0 (5.2) | 6.6 (3.1) | −0.36 (−1.39–0.66) | −0.61 (−1.52–0.30) |
| Time to enteral feeding ≥150 mL/kg/d c, days (SD) | 7.2 (2.9) | 6.6 (2.9) | −0.60 (−1.25–0.05) | −0.69 (−1.29–−0.09) |
| Weight change from birth to day 28 c, Fenton z-score (SD) | −0.69 (0.39) | −0.61 (0.41) | 0.07 (−0.01–0.17) | 0.08 (−0.01–0.16) |
| Weight change from birth to 36 weeks c, Fenton z-score (SD) | −0.69 (0.49) | −0.60 (0.49) | 0.09 (−0.02–0.20) | 0.08 (−0.02–0.19) |
| Length of stay in the NICU, days (SD) | 38.2 (15.3) | 38.1 (13.8) | −0.12 (−3.40–3.16) | −1.12 (−3.27–1.04) |
| Length of stay NICU and homecare, days (SD) | 59.7 (20.0) | 58.8 (15.5) | −0.92 (−5.00–3.15) | −1.96 (−5.01–1.08) |
| Abdominal X-ray, n (%) | 41 (21.9) | 21 (15.8) | 0.72 (0.45–1.16) | 0.69 (0.43–1.10) |
| Antibiotics treatment, n (%) | 113 (60.4) | 74 (55.6) | 0.92 (0.76–1.11) | 0.89 (0.75–1.06) |
| Duration of antibiotics d, days (SD) | 6.1 (4.0) | 5.2 (2.1) | −0.83 (−1.83–0.18) | −1.11 (−2.10–−0.12) |
* excludes infants with the composite outcome death, sepsis, and/or necrotising enterocolitis (n = 25), a risks adjusted for gestational age (days) and birth weight (Fenton z-score), b missing = 17, c missing = 2, d based on 133 and 74 infants given antibiotics in the no probiotics and probiotics group, respectively.