ArticleEpidemiology (Cambridge, Mass.)2010
Mortality risk among preterm babies: immaturity versus underlying pathology.
Article in Epidemiology (Cambridge, Mass.), 2010. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 37 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
37 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 94 citations in OpenAlex.
- Common predictors of cervical cancer related mortality in Ethiopia. A systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC public health · 2024Pooled it
- Association between Endotype of Prematurity and Mortality: A Systematic Review, Meta-Analysis, and Meta-Regression.Neonatology · 2023Pooled it
- Association of Histological and Clinical Chorioamnionitis With Neonatal Sepsis Among Preterm Infants: A Systematic Review, Meta-Analysis, and Meta-Regression.Frontiers in immunology · 2020Pooled it
- Pooled it
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- Antibiotics and the developing intestinal microbiome, metabolome and inflammatory environment in a randomized trial of preterm infants.Scientific reports · 2021Trial
- Ischemic placental disease as a risk factor for bronchopulmonary dysplasia in extremely preterm infants.The journal of obstetrics and gynaecology research · 2025Article
- Obstetrical and neonatal complications, prematurity, and childhood effortful control development: A longitudinal twin study.Developmental psychology · 2024Article
- Water Fluoridation and Birth Outcomes in California.Environmental health perspectives · 2024Article
- Maternal mitochondrial DNA copy number and methylation as possible predictors of pregnancy outcomes in a Michigan pregnancy cohort.Environmental epigenetics · 2024Article
- PlasmaScientific reports · 2023Article
- Weight gain in pregnancy and infant birthweight after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic: an interrupted time series analysis.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2023Article
- The burden of inappropriate birth weight on neonatal survival in term newborns: a population-based study in a middle-income setting.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2023Article
- Maternal factors and child health conditions at birth associated with preterm deaths in a tertiary health facility in Ghana: A retrospective analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
- Neonatal outcomes by delivery indication after administration of antenatal late preterm corticosteroids.AJOG global reports · 2022Article
- Vicarious structural racism and infant health disparities in Michigan: The Flint Water Crisis.Frontiers in public health · 2022Article
- The limits of small-for-gestational-age as a high-risk category.European journal of epidemiology · 2021Article
- The maturity in fetal pigs using a multi-fluid metabolomic approach.Scientific reports · 2020Article
- Measurement of birth outcomes in analyses of the impact of maternal influenza vaccination.Influenza and other respiratory viruses · 2019Article
- Two denominators for one numerator: the example of neonatal mortality.European journal of epidemiology · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundDeaths among preterm births are presumably due to both immaturity and the conditions that cause preterm birth. Their relative contributions are unknown.
methodsUsing US birth certificates (1995-2002), we estimated what portion of preterm neonatal mortality may be attributable to immaturity alone. Twins have elevated mortality, yet they usually have lower mortality than singletons at most preterm weeks. Twinning itself is a cause of early birth. Thus, at any given preterm week, singletons are more likely than twins to have pathologic causes of preterm delivery. If any such cause is associated with a mortality risk higher than that conferred by twinning, it is possible for singletons to have higher mortality than twins at some preterm weeks. Thus, mortality of twins at those weeks comes closer to describing the risk due to immaturity itself. To exclude high-risk babies, we focused on singletons and twins least likely to have suffered fetal growth disruptions (ie, those with "optimal" birth weight). At each gestational week from 24 to 36, we identified (for twins and singletons separately) the 500-gram weight category with the lowest neonatal mortality, and selected the lower of the 2 mortality rates.
resultsUsing the above as our best estimates of mortality due to immaturity alone, we calculated that about half the mortality of singleton preterm babies was due to the pathologies that cause early delivery.
conclusionsFactors that cause preterm birth apparently contribute a large proportion of preterm mortality. If so, the prevention of preterm mortality requires more than the postponement of delivery.
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