Apnea in the Otherwise Healthy, Term Newborn: National Prevalence and Utilization during the Birth Hospitalization

To describe the prevalence of apnea in otherwise healthy term newborns, identify attributable length of stay (LOS) and healthcare utilization (cost) of apnea, and measure hospital variation in attributable LOS and cost of apnea in this population.

We conducted a secondary analysis of a national administrative dataset, the 2012 Kids' Inpatient Database, which included 3.4 million newborn discharges in the US. The birth hospitalizations of approximately 2.6 million otherwise healthy, full-term newborns were included for analysis. Attributable LOS and cost of apnea were calculated using multivariate analyses.

Apnea was diagnosed in 1 in 1000 healthy full-term newborns. Multivariate analyses showed that newborns with apnea had 0.6 days longer LOS (P < .001) and $483 greater costs (P < .001) compared with healthy term newborns, per birth hospitalization. Newborns diagnosed with apnea plus hypoxia and/or bradycardia had 1.4 days longer LOS (P < .001) and $653 greater costs (P < .001). The attributable LOS and cost attributable to apnea varied between individual hospitals and differed by hospital region.

Apnea is associated with higher LOS and cost in the newborn hospitalization, with variation in hospital practice. This suggests the need for better comprehension of the underlying physiology and standardization of practice in its management in the term newborn.