Loading...
The Apgar score was introduced in 1952 as a quick method to assess a newborn infant immediately after birth and determine whether intervention is needed. Using national registries for 1999 to 2016, investigators in Sweden examined neonatal outcomes for more than 1.5 million singleton babies with Apgar scores in the normal range of 7 to 10 at 1, 5, and 10 minutes. All infants were born at >37 weeks' gestation and without congenital anomalies. Neonatal outcomes included mortality, infections, respiratory distress, hypoglycemia, and asphyxia-related complications such as seizures. Analyses were adjusted for perinatal risk factors.
At 1 minute, only 11% of babies had an Apgar score of 10, but this proportion increased to 89% at 5 minutes and 97%…