• Posted November 29, 2024

Premature Birth Could Impact Life Span for Decades

Premature babies not only face serious and immediate health consequences: New research shows they are also more likely to die early, a risk that persists into their 30s.

"Understanding the long-term effects of preterm birth can help us develop preventative strategies and identify interventions to improve the health of individuals who are born preterm," said lead researcher Dr. Asma Ahmed, an assistant professor of epidemiology and prevention at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Worldwide, 1 in 10 births is considered preterm, meaning the baby is born before 37 weeks gestation. Preterm birth is the No. 1 cause of infant death and No. 2 cause for death among children under the age of 5.

While a majority of preemies live into adulthood, Ahmed said there's growing evidence that they have an increased risk of premature death that persists for decades.

She and her team analyzed data from nearly 5 million live births in Canada between 1983 and 1996. Of those, 6.9% were pre-term.

They were tracked until 2019 -- a followup period of 23 to 36 years.

Researchers linked preterm birth to an increased risk of death across all age groups up to age 36. The greatest risks occurred in childhood, from birth to infancy; 0-11 months; and from 1 to 5 years of age.

"We also found that the risk of [early death] is higher with a lower gestational age at birth, with those born before 28 weeks facing the highest risks," Ahmed said in a Wake Forest news release.

That was owed to several causes, including respiratory, circulatory and digestive disorders; diseases of the nervous and endocrine systems; infections; cancers and birth defects.

"These findings suggest that preterm birth should be recognized as a significant risk factor for mortality," Ahmed said. "The risk remains until the third and fourth decades of life."

Not only is clinical care during the newborn period important, long-term care and monitoring are essential to help reduce those risks, she said.

She added that more study is needed, especially in low- and middle-income countries where preterm birth rates are highest.

The findings were published online in JAMA Network Open.

More information

Learn more about preterm birth at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

SOURCE: Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist, news release, Nov. 20, 2024