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Social distancing and extremely preterm births in the initial COVID-19 pandemic period
Shukla, V. V., Carper, B. A., Ambalavanan, N., Rysavy, M. A., Bell, E. F., Das, A., Patel, R. M., D'Angio, C. T., Watterberg, K. L., Cotten, C. M., Merhar, S. L., Wyckoff, M. H., Sanchez, P. J., Kumbhat, N., Carlo, W. A., & Eunice Kennedy Shriver Natl Inst (2024). Social distancing and extremely preterm births in the initial COVID-19 pandemic period. Journal of Perinatology, 44(7), 1050-1057. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41372-024-01898-3
HypothesisIncreased social distancing was associated with a lower incidence of extremely preterm live births (EPLB) during the initial COVID-19 pandemic period.Study designProspective 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).ResultsEPLB 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).ConclusionsIncreased 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 IDGeneric Database: NCT00063063.
