Preterm birth and mortality in young adulthood

January 01, 0001

Preterm birth and mortality in young adulthood

In developed countries the leading cause of infant mortality is preterm birth. These US and Swedish researchers looked at gestational age at birth and mortality in young adulthood through a national cohort study of 674 820 babies born in Sweden.

The researchers found: "A total of 7095 deaths occurred in 20.8 million person-years of follow-up. Among individuals still alive at the beginning of each age range, a strong inverse association was found between gestational age at birth and mortality in early childhood (ages 1-5 years- adjusted hazard ratio [aHR

The researchers concluded: "After excluding earlier deaths, low gestational age at birth was independently associated with increased mortality in early childhood and young adulthood."

These researcher identify a link between preterm birth and mortality in young adulthood, but the mechanism is unclear.

For the full abstract, click here.

JAMA 306(11):1233-1240, 21 September 2011 © 2011 American Medical Association
Gestational Age at Birth and Mortality in Young Adulthood. Casey Crump, Kristina Sundquist, Jan Sundquist, Marilyn A. Winkleby.

Category: A. General/Unspecified. Keywords: preterm, birth, gestational age, mortality , adulthood, cohort study, journal watch.
Synopsis edited by Dr Paul Schaefer, Toledo, Ohio. Posted on Global Family Doctor 7 October 2009

Pearls are an independent product of the Cochrane primary care group and are meant for educational use and not to guide clinical care.

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