The role of pulmonary follow-up in reducing health care utilization in infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia.

OBJECTIVE

To determine whether pulmonary follow-up affects rates of rehospitalization and visitations to emergency departments (EDs) in preterm infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD).

METHODS

In this retrospective cohort study, the authors identified all preterm infants born at ≤ 32 weeks' gestation with at least one outpatient visit to a pulmonary follow-up clinic at Children's Hospital Boston or a high-risk primary neurodevelopmental follow-up clinic for preterm infants. ED visits and rehospitalizations were identified through electronic medical records.

RESULTS

Infants with pulmonary follow-up compared with infants without pulmonary follow-up were, respectively, younger (mean gestational age 26.3 ± 2.3 vs 28.3 ± 2.3 weeks, P < .0001), smaller at birth (birth weight <1200 g, 87.6% vs 57.2%, P < .0001), and needed more supplemental oxygen (55.7% vs 2.6%, P < .0001) and diuretics (65.8% vs 4.7%, P < .001) at the time of discharge from the neonatal intensive care unit. Although rates of rehospitalization were higher in infants with pulmonary follow-up, rates of visits to an ED for respiratory causes were not statistically significant. After controlling for baseline differences in both groups, the rates of rehospitalization or ED visits were the same for both groups.

CONCLUSIONS

Despite differences in lung disease status in infants with and without pulmonary follow-up, the rates of health care utilization were the same in both groups. Pulmonary follow-up may decrease the expected higher rates of ED visits and hospitalizations in preterm infants with more severe lung disease.