Journal of AdvancedMedical and Dental Sciences Research

Background: Late preterm infants face more problems in the immediate newborn period compared with their full-term counterparts. The present study was conducted to assess outcome of early preterm, late pretermand term infants. Materials & Methods: 120 early preterm, late pretermand term infants of both genderswere classified into 3 groups of 40 each. Parameters such as increasedhospitalizations, multiple gestation, small forGA status, maternal age (adolescent [<20 years old] versus adult [≥20years old])etc. were recorded. Results: Out of 120 patients, boys were 70 and girls were 50. The mean gestation age was 32.1weeks in group I and 36.5weeks in group II and 39.4weeks in group III. Birth weight was 2045.6grams in group I, 2852.8grams in group II and 3486.2grams in group III. Multiple gestation was 17% in group I, 11.5% in group II and 2.4% in group III. Small for GA was 8.2% in group I, 11% in group II and 9% in group III. The difference was significant (P< 0.05). The mean birth hospitalization length was 13.2 days, 2.4 days and 2.1 days. Hospitalization within 14 days of birth discharge was seen in 3.4%, 3.3% and 3.0%. Hospitalization within 30 days of birth discharge was seen in 6.3%, 5.7% and 3.1%. Hospitalization within 90 days of birth discharge was seen in 10.2%, 8.4% and 5.3%. Hospitalization between birth discharge and day 365 of life was seen in 16.5%, 12.4% and 9.0% in group I, II and III respectively. The difference was significant (P< 0.05). Conclusion: There was high rate of hospitalization in early preterm infants.