Research roundup: March 2024

This study aimed to quantify the characteristics of children under the age of 2 years admitted to neonatal units (NNUs) and paediatric intensive care units (PICUs). The researchers conducted a study compiling routinely collected data from children born between 2013 and 2018, with the main outcome measure defined as admission to PICU before 2 years of age.

The data gathered comprised 384 747 admissions of babies to an NNU, showing that 4.8% of these (n=18 343) were then also admitted to PICU before they reached the age of 2 years. About half of all children in the PICU aged under age 2 years were born within the same time window had also been previously admitted to an NNU.

The main indication for admission to PICU was of cardiac origin in 7138 cases, and for respiratory reasons in 5386 cases. The cardiac admissions were mostly children who were born at term, which was in 5146 cases. However, for preterm babies who were born under 37 weeks of gestational age (n=3550), respiratory issues made up the main reason for admission. The researchers found that one-third of all children admitted to PICU had more than one admission.