ArticlePaediatric and perinatal epidemiology2022
Little evidence for long-term harm from antenatal corticosteroids in a population-based very low birthweight young adult cohort.
Article in Paediatric and perinatal epidemiology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
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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.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 13 citations in OpenAlex.
- 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
- Antenatal Corticosteroids: Short-Term Gains, Long-Term Questions-A Meta-Analysis.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Conserved DNA methylation signatures in the prefrontal cortex of female newborn and juvenile guinea pigs following antenatal betamethasone exposure.Journal of neuroendocrinology · 2025Article
- Long-term outcomes of antenatal corticosteroids for preterm birth: An overview of systematic reviews.PLOS global public health · 2025Article
- Mental Health Outcomes of a National Cohort of Adults Born with Very Low Birthweight.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Article
- 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 corticosteroids and outcomes into adulthood.Paediatric and perinatal epidemiology · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAntenatal corticosteroids (ACS) given to mothers with anticipated very preterm delivery are widely used and improve infant outcomes. Follow-up studies of the first trials of ACS have shown no adverse effects, but recently there have been concerns about possible longer-term harms.
objectivesWe aimed to assess the relationship of ACS therapy to a range of physical health and welfare measures in a cohort of very low birthweight (VLBW; <1500 g) young adults.
methodsPopulation-based cohort follow-up study. All VLBW infants born in New Zealand in 1986 were included in a prospective audit of retinopathy of prematurity. Perinatal data collection included information on ACS. At 26-30 years, 250 of 323 (77%) survivors participated, 58% having received ACS, with 229 assessed in one centre, including cardiovascular, metabolic, respiratory and neurocognitive measures. Differences in outcome between those receiving/not receiving ACS were summarised by the mean difference for continuous outcomes supplemented by Cohen's d as a standardised measure of effect size (ES), and risk ratios (RRI) for dichotomous outcomes, adjusted for relevant covariates using generalised linear regression methods.
resultsThere were no or minimal adverse effects of receipt of ACS versus no receipt across a range of health and welfare outcomes, both for the full cohort (adjusted ES range d = 0.01-0.23; adjusted RR range 0.78-2.03) and for individuals with gestation <28 weeks (extremely preterm; EP), except for a small increase in rates of major depression. In EP adults, receipt of ACS was associated with a higher incidence of hypertension, but might have a small benefit for IQ.
conclusionsIn this population-based VLBW cohort, we detected minimal adverse outcomes associated with exposure to ACS by the third decade of life, a similar result to the 30-year follow-up of participants in the first ACS trial. However, further follow-up is warranted.
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