A premature birth is associated with an increased risk of death from birth through the third and fourth decades of life, according to a new study by researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine and The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in Toronto.
The study appears online today in JAMA Network Open.
About 10% of all births worldwide are classified as premature, meaning the baby is born before 37 weeks of gestation. Globally, premature births are the leading cause of infant mortality and the second leading cause of death in children younger than 5 years.
In the first known population-based study of premature births in North America, Ahmed and his team analyzed a cohort of nearly 5 million live births in Canada, 6.9% of which were premature. Participants were born between 1983 and 1996 and followed through 2019, yielding an observation period of 23 to 36 years.
The premature births were divided into gestational age subgroups: 24–27 weeks, 28–31 weeks, 32–33 weeks, and 34–36 weeks and compared with those born at term (37–41 weeks).
Researchers found that premature births are associated with an increased risk of death in all age groups up to age 36, with the highest risks occurring from birth through infancy (0-11 months) and early childhood (1-5 years).
“We also found that the risk of death is higher at a lower gestational age at birth. The highest risk is for babies born before 28 weeks,” Ahmed said.
The study also found that various causes are associated with an increased risk of death, such as diseases of the respiratory system, circulatory system, and digestive system, diseases of the nervous system, endocrine system, and infectious diseases, cancers, and congenital malformations.
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2826512
