Abstract 1472 Poster Session II, Sunday, 5/2 (poster 95)

Background: Transfer of babies from NICU, time at discharge home, and special support may be influenced by community resources and physician preferences.

Objective: To examine variation in discharge patterns among 17 Canadian NICUs.

Method: Analysis of information for babies in CANICU in 1996-97 with respect to birth gestational age (BGA) in weeks, discharge gestational age (DGA) and care when discharged home including supplemental oxygen (O2), diuretics (D) and theophylline (T). Interquartile ranges (IQR) for DGA were calculated between 25th and 75th percentiles (sites ranked 5th and 13th).

Results: Mean (site ranges) percentage (%) distribution for 19, 284 surviving babies was: home 47.1 (20-66.8%), level I unit 29.1 (0.6-45.8%), level II unit 13.7 (0 - 36.0%), other 10.1 (0 - 21.2%). Ranges of discharge support were O2: 0 - 3.7%, D: 0-12.3%, T: 0-4.4%. There were no significant correlations among sites between DGA and O2, D, RT. See also table below.

Table 1 No caption available
Full size table

Conclusion: Discharge GA is related to birth GA; site variation in DGA is greatest with low BGA. Low BGA babies are more likely to receive O2, D or T at discharge home. Support at discharge home is not related to discharge GA. Variations among sites suggest practice patterns should be examined to promote quality improvement and effective use of health care resources.

Funded by the Medical Research Council