Bronchopulmonary dysplasia: Incidence, risk factors and resource utilization in a population of South American very low birth weight infants

Abstract

Objective: To determine the incidence of bronchopulmonary dysplasia, its risk factors and resource utilization in a large South American population of very low birth weight infants. Methods: Prospectively collected data in infants weighing 500 to 1,500 g born in 16 NEOCOSUR Network centers from 10/2000 through 12/2003. Multivariate relative risk and 95% confidence intervals were estimated by Poisson regression with robust error variance to find factors that affected the risk of bronchopulmonary dysplasia. Results: 1,825 very low birth weight infants survivors were analyzed. Mean birth weight and gestational age were1085±279 g and 29±3 weeks respectively. Bronchopulmonary dysplasia incidence averaged 24.4% and survival without bronchopulmonary dysplasia augmented with increasing gestational age. A higher birth weight and gestational age and a female gender all decreased the risk for bronchopulmonary dysplasia. Factors that independently increased that risk were surfactant requirement, m