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Social distancing and extremely preterm births in the initial COVID-19 pandemic period

  • the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Neonatal Research Network
  • University of Alabama at Birmingham
  • RTI International
  • University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
  • University of Iowa
  • Emory University
  • University of Rochester
  • University of New Mexico
  • Duke University
  • University of Cincinnati
  • University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
  • Ohio State University
  • Stanford University
  • Columbia University
  • Brown University
  • Case Western Reserve University
  • WakeMed
  • National Institutes of Health

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

Hypothesis: Increased social distancing was associated with a lower incidence of extremely preterm live births (EPLB) during the initial COVID-19 pandemic period. Study design: Prospective study at the NICHD Neonatal Research Network sites comparing EPLB (220/7–286/7 weeks) and extremely preterm intrapartum stillbirths (EPIS) rates during the pandemic period (March-July, weeks 9–30 of 2020) with the reference period (same weeks in 2018 and 2019), correlating with state-specific social distancing index (SDI). Results: EPLB and EPIS percentages did not significantly decrease (1.58–1.45%, p = 0.07, and 0.08–0.06%, p = 0.14, respectively). SDI was not significantly correlated with percent change of EPLB (CC = 0.29, 95% CI = −0.12, 0.71) or EPIS (CC = −0.23, 95% CI = −0.65, 0.18). Percent change in mean gestational age was positively correlated with SDI (CC = 0.49, 95% CI = 0.07, 0.91). Conclusions: Increased social distancing was not associated with change in incidence of EPLB but was associated with a higher gestational age of extremely preterm births. ClinicalTrials.gov ID: Generic Database: NCT00063063.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1050-1057
Number of pages8
JournalJournal of Perinatology
Volume44
Issue number7
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 2024

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