Danish premature birth rates during the COVID-19 lockdown

Gitte Hedermann; Paula Louise Hedley; Marie Bækvad-Hansen; Henrik Hjalgrim; Klaus Rostgaard; Porntiva Poorisrisak; Morten Breindahl; Mads Melbye; David M. Hougaard; Michael Christiansen; Ulrik Lausten-Thomsen

doi:10.1136/archdischild-2020-319990

Danish premature birth rates during the COVID-19 lockdown

Gitte Hedermann, Paula Louise Hedley, Marie Bækvad-Hansen, Henrik Hjalgrim, Klaus Rostgaard, Porntiva Poorisrisak, Morten Breindahl, Mads Melbye, David M. Hougaard, Michael Christiansen^*, Ulrik Lausten-Thomsen

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

209 Citations (Scopus)

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Abstract

To explore the impact of COVID-19 lockdown on premature birth rates in Denmark, a nationwide register-based prevalence proportion study was conducted on all 31 180 live singleton infants born in Denmark between 12 March and 14 April during 2015-2020. The distribution of gestational ages (GAs) was significantly different (p=0.004) during the lockdown period compared with the previous 5 years and was driven by a significantly lower rate of extremely premature children during the lockdown compared with the corresponding mean rate for the same dates in the previous years (OR 0.09, 95% CI 0.01 to 0.40, p<0.001). No significant difference between the lockdown and previous years was found for other GA categories. The reasons for this decrease are unclear. However, the lockdown has provided a unique opportunity to examine possible factors related to prematurity. Identification of possible causal mechanisms might stimulate changes in clinical practice.

Original language	English
Journal	Archives of Disease in Childhood: Fetal and Neonatal Edition
Volume	106
Pages (from-to)	F93-F95
Number of pages	3
ISSN	1359-2998
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1136/archdischild-2020-319990
Publication status	Published - 2021

Keywords

epidemiology
neonatology

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10.1136/archdischild-2020-319990Licence: CC BY-NC

Danish premature birth rates during theAccepted author manuscript, 337 KBLicence: CC BY-NC

Cite this

Hedermann, G., Hedley, P. L., Bækvad-Hansen, M., Hjalgrim, H., Rostgaard, K., Poorisrisak, P., Breindahl, M., Melbye, M., Hougaard, D. M., Christiansen, M., & Lausten-Thomsen, U. (2021). Danish premature birth rates during the COVID-19 lockdown. Archives of Disease in Childhood: Fetal and Neonatal Edition, 106, F93-F95. https://doi.org/10.1136/archdischild-2020-319990

Danish premature birth rates during the COVID-19 lockdown. / Hedermann, Gitte; Hedley, Paula Louise; Bækvad-Hansen, Marie; Hjalgrim, Henrik; Rostgaard, Klaus; Poorisrisak, Porntiva; Breindahl, Morten; Melbye, Mads; Hougaard, David M.; Christiansen, Michael; Lausten-Thomsen, Ulrik.

In: Archives of Disease in Childhood: Fetal and Neonatal Edition, Vol. 106, 2021, p. F93-F95.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

Hedermann, Gitte ; Hedley, Paula Louise ; Bækvad-Hansen, Marie ; Hjalgrim, Henrik ; Rostgaard, Klaus ; Poorisrisak, Porntiva ; Breindahl, Morten ; Melbye, Mads ; Hougaard, David M. ; Christiansen, Michael ; Lausten-Thomsen, Ulrik. / Danish premature birth rates during the COVID-19 lockdown. In: Archives of Disease in Childhood: Fetal and Neonatal Edition. 2021 ; Vol. 106. pp. F93-F95.

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