Table 4. Demographic and clinical characteristics of the preterm group with and without altered pulmonary function.
| Altered function (n=30) | Normal function (n=82) |
p-value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boys (n=52) | 14 (46.7%) | 38 (46.3%) | 0.976* |
| Birth weight (g) (n=112) | 1.217±310 | 1398±331 | 0.011£ |
| Gestational age (weeks) (n=112) | 30.0±2.8 | 31.1±2.8 | 0.065£ |
| SGA NB (n=40) | 11 (38.7%) | 29 (35.4%) | 0.244* |
| Apgar 1st minute (n=112) | 6.9±2.3 | 7.3 ±1.6 | 0.236£ |
| Apgar 5th minute (n=112) | 8.3±1.6 | 8.8±0.7 | 0.109£ |
| RDS (n=52) | 18 (60%) | 34 (41.5%) | 0.082* |
| Sepsis (n=23) | 8 (26.7%) | 15 (18.3%) | 0.062* |
| O2 dependency at 36 weeks (n=11) | 6 (20%) | 5 (6.1%) | 0.010& |
| Use of mechanical ventilation (n=73) | 23 (76.7%) | 50 (61%) | 0.092* |
| Days of oxygen therapy in the NICU | 15.2±23.6 | 6.3±17.7 | 0.002# |
| Current weight-for-age (Z score) (n=112) | -0.07±1.26 | 0.06±1.76 | 0.290# |
| Current height-for-age (Z score) (n=112) | 0.60±2.21 | 0.13±0.98 | 0.414# |
| Current BMI-for-age (Z score) (n=112) | 0.63±2.71 | 0.20±1.40 | 0.053# |
| History of bronchiolitis (n=29) | 11 (36.7%) | 18 (22) | 0.115* |
| History of pneumonia (n=21) | 10 (33.3%) | 11 (13.4%) | 0.017* |
| Asthma diagnosis (ISAAC) (n=16) | 8 (26.7%) | 8 (9.8%) | 0.024* |
SGA NB: small for gestational age newborn; RDS: respiratory distress syndrome; O2: oxygen; NICU: Neonatal Intensive Care Unit; Current: on the day of the pulmonary function test; BMI: body mass index: ISAAC: International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood; 11 *Chi-square; &Fisher’s exact test; #Mann-Whitney’s test; £ t-test.