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Improved survival for very preterm infants is a remarkable achievement in pediatric healthcare, although neonatology care is resource intensive. To examine the frequency of healthcare visits and prescription use among preterm infants in the year following NICU discharge, researchers analyzed data from 892 infants who were born at ≤32 weeks’ gestation at five hospitals between 1998 and 2001. All were enrolled in a California managed care plan. Infants who died or had major congenital anomalies, ventricular peritoneal shunts, or home ventilation were excluded.
Compared with the entire cohort, the 265 infants who were born at 23 to 28 weeks’ gestation had higher rates of necrotizing enterocolitis (2% vs. 4%), bronchopulmonary dysplasia (15% vs.…