ArticleThorax2006
Long term effects of antenatal betamethasone on lung function: 30 year follow up of a randomised controlled trial.
Article in Thorax, 2006. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 63 citations in OpenAlex.
- Antenatal corticosteroids for accelerating fetal lung maturation for women at risk of preterm birth.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2020Pooled it
- Antenatal corticosteroids for accelerating fetal lung maturation for women at risk of preterm birth.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2017Pooled it
- Reproductive outcomes after antenatal corticosteroids: Secondary analysis of 50-year follow-up of the Auckland steroid randomized trial.Acta obstetricia et gynecologica Scandinavica · 2024Trial
- General health and social outcomes 50 years after exposure to antenatal betamethasone: follow-up of a randomised controlled trial.BMC medicine · 2024Trial
- Cardiovascular outcomes 50 years after antenatal exposure to betamethasone: Follow-up of a randomised double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.PLoS medicine · 2024Trial
- Pulmonary function and outcomes in infants randomized to a rescue course of antenatal steroids.Pediatric pulmonology · 2017Trial
- Behavioural, educational and respiratory outcomes of antenatal betamethasone for term caesarean section (ASTECS trial).Archives of disease in childhood. Fetal and neonatal edition · 2013Trial
- Antenatal Corticosteroids: Short-Term Gains, Long-Term Questions-A Meta-Analysis.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Antenatal Corticosteroid Administration and Childhood Respiratory Morbidity: A Regression Discontinuity Study.BJOG : an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology · 2026Article
- Early preterm antenatal corticosteroids and neonatal outcomes for twin pregnancies: a propensity score-weighted cohort study.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Article
- Long-term childhood outcomes for babies born at term who were exposed to antenatal corticosteroids.American journal of obstetrics and gynecology · 2023Article
- Little evidence for long-term harm from antenatal corticosteroids in a population-based very low birthweight young adult cohort.Paediatric and perinatal epidemiology · 2022Article
- Antenatal corticosteriods decrease forced vital capacity in infants born fullterm.Pediatric pulmonology · 2020Article
- Predicting Lung Health Trajectories for Survivors of Preterm Birth.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2020Review
- Central ANG-(1-7) infusion improves blood pressure regulation in antenatal betamethasone-exposed sheep and reveals sex-dependent effects on oxidative stress.American journal of physiology. Heart and circulatory physiology · 2019Article
- Article
- Cross-fostering increases TH1/TH2 expression in a prenatal dexamethasone exposure rat model.PloS one · 2014Article
- Antenatal steroid exposure and pulmonary outcomes in adolescents born with very low birth weight.Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association · 2013Article
- Prematurity and programming: contribution of neonatal Intensive Care Unit interventions.Journal of developmental origins of health and disease · 2013Article
- Effects of antenatal glucocorticoid therapy on hippocampal histology of preterm infants.PloS one · 2012Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAntenatal betamethasone is routinely used for the prevention of neonatal respiratory distress syndrome in preterm infants. However, little is known of the long term effects of exposure to antenatal betamethasone on lung function in adulthood.
methodsFive hundred and thirty four 30 year olds whose mothers had participated in the first and largest randomised controlled trial of antenatal betamethasone were followed. Lung function was assessed by portable spirometric testing. The prevalence of asthma symptoms was assessed using the European Community Respiratory Health Survey questionnaire.
resultsFifty (20%) betamethasone exposed and 53 (19%) placebo exposed participants met the criteria for current asthma (relative risk 0.98 (95% CI 0.74 to 1.30), p = 0.89). 181 betamethasone exposed and 202 placebo exposed participants had acceptable spirometric data. There were no differences in lung function between betamethasone and placebo exposed groups (mean (SD) forced vital capacity in the betamethasone and placebo groups 105.9 (12.0) v 106.6 (12.6)% predicted, difference = -0.7 (95% CI -3.2 to 1.8), p = 0.59; mean (SD) forced expiratory volume in 1 second in the betamethasone and placebo groups 98.9 (13.4) v 98.5 (13.6)% predicted, difference = 0.3 (95% CI -2.4 to 3.1, p = 0.80)).
conclusionsAntenatal exposure to a single course of betamethasone does not alter lung function or the prevalence of wheeze and asthma at age 30.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.