Mortality and length of stay of very low birth weight and very preterm infants: a EuroHOPE study

The objective of this paper was to compare health outcomes and hospital care use of very low birth weight (VLBW), and very preterm (VLGA) infants in seven European countries. Analysis was performed on linkable patient-level registry data from seven European countries between 2006 and 2008 (Finland, Hungary, Italy (the Province of Rome), the Netherlands, Norway, Scotland, and Sweden). Mortality and length of stay (LoS) were adjusted for differences in gestational age (GA), sex, intrauterine growth, Apgar score at five minutes, parity and multiple births. The analysis included 16,087 infants. Both the 30-day and one-year adjusted mortality rates were lowest in the Nordic countries (Finland, Sweden and Norway) and Scotland and highest in Hungary and the Netherlands. For survivors, the adjusted average LoS during the first year of life ranged from 56 days in the Netherlands and Scotland to 81 days in Hungary. There were large differences between European countries in mortality rates and LoS in VLBW and VLGA infants. Substantial data linkage problems were observed in most countries due to inadequate identification procedures at birth, which limit data validity and should be addressed by policy makers across Europe

Additional file 1: of International comparison of experience-based health state values at the population level

Survey characteristics. (DOCX 71 kb

Additional file 1: of Has variation in length of stay in acute hospitals decreased? Analysing trends in the variation in LOS between and within Dutch hospitals

Appendix I. Search strategy. Appendix II. Descriptives. Appendix III. Details trend analysis and back transformation. (DOCX 38 kb

Additional file 5: of Unraveling the drivers of regional variation in healthcare spending by analyzing prevalent chronic diseases

Complete LMM model estimates for the general population. (DOCX 36 kb

Additional file 3: of Unraveling the drivers of regional variation in healthcare spending by analyzing prevalent chronic diseases

Statistical analysis: model selection. (DOCX 28 kb

Additional file 2: of Unraveling the drivers of regional variation in healthcare spending by analyzing prevalent chronic diseases

Sample selection. (DOCX 27 kb

Additional file 1: of Unraveling the drivers of regional variation in healthcare spending by analyzing prevalent chronic diseases

Data and sources. (DOCX 27 kb

Additional file 1: of Are low-value care measures up to the task? A systematic review of the literature

Search strategy. (DOCX 16 kb

Additional file 3: of Are low-value care measures up to the task? A systematic review of the literature

Low-value care recommendations. (DOCX 78 kb

Risk adjusted average number of hospital days during FHE.^a

<p>A confidence interval: 95%.</p><p>^a The first hospital episode (FHE) starts at the day of birth and includes all continuous hospital days, including transfers between different hospitals.</p><p>Risk adjusted average number of hospital days during FHE.<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0131685#t005fn002" target="_blank">^a</a></p