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Morbidity and Health Care Costs After Early Term Birth
Emmi Helle1,2,3, Sture Andersson1, Unto Häkkinen3
1Children's Hospital, Helsinki University Hospital and University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
Insights
Early term birth leads to higher childhood morbidity and increased healthcare costs. These infants face a health disadvantage compared to full term babies, requiring more medical attention.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Public Health
- Neonatology
Background:
- Early term birth necessitates increased hospital care in the early postnatal period.
- Understanding long-term health outcomes and costs for early term infants is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess morbidity and health care costs in children born early term up to 3 years of age.
- To compare health outcomes and associated expenses between early term and full term infants.
Main Methods:
- Population-based birth cohort study in Finland (2006-08).
- Utilized national medical birth and healthcare registers for 29,970 infants.
- Morbidity assessed via ICD-10 codes; costs included all care types and medications.
Main Results:
- 8.6% of early term infants experienced morbidities by age 3, versus 7.0% for full term infants (aOR 1.2).
- Increased morbidity in early term infants linked to airway, ophthalmological, and motor issues.
- Healthcare costs were higher for early term infants (€4813) compared to full term infants (€4047) over 3 years.
Conclusions:
- Early term birth is associated with elevated morbidity and healthcare expenditures in early childhood.
- Infants born early term exhibit a discernible health disadvantage compared to their full term counterparts.
Background:
Early term birth is associated with increased need for hospital care during the early postnatal period. The objective of this study was to assess the morbidity and health care-related costs during the first 3 years of life in children born early term.
Methods:
Data come from a population-based birth cohort study in the municipalities of Helsinki, Espoo, and Vantaa, Finland using data from the national medical birth register and outpatient, inpatient, and primary care registers. All surviving infants born in 2006-08 (n = 29 970) were included. The main outcome measures were morbidities, based on ICD-10 codes recorded during inpatient and outpatient hospital visits, and health care costs, based on all care received, including well child visits (specialised care, primary care, private care, and medications).
Results:
7.0% of children born full term had at least one of the studied morbidities by 3 years of age. This percentage was significantly higher in children born early term: 8.6% (adjusted odds ratio 1.2, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.1, 1.4). The increased morbidity of children born early term was attributed to obstructive airway diseases and ophthalmological and motor problems. Health care-related costs during the first 3 years of life were 4813€ (95% CI 4385, 5241) per child in the early term group, higher than for full term children 4047€ (95% CI 3884, 4210).
Conclusions:
Infants born early term have increased morbidity and higher health care-related costs during early childhood than full term infants. Early term birth seems to be associated with a health disadvantage.
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