RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Availability of active therapeutic hypothermia at birth for neonatal hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy: a UK population study from 2011 to 2018 JF Archives of Disease in Childhood - Fetal and Neonatal Edition JO Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health SP 597 OP 602 DO 10.1136/archdischild-2021-322906 VO 107 IS 6 A1 Mistry, Aarti A1 Shipley, Lara A1 Ojha, Shalini A1 Sharkey, Don A1 YR 2022 UL http://fn.bmj.com/content/107/6/597.abstract AB Objective Therapeutic hypothermia (TH) commenced soon after birth for neonatal hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy (HIE) improves survival and reduces neurodisability. Availability of active TH at the place of birth (Immediate-TH) in the UK is unknown.Design Population-based observational study.Setting UK maternity centres.Patients 5 975 056 births from 2011 to 2018.Intervention methods For each maternity centre, the year active Immediate-TH was available and the annual birth rates were established. Admission temperatures of infants with HIE transferred from non-tertiary centres with and without Immediate-TH were compared.Main outcome measures Quantify the annual number of births with access to Immediate-TH. Secondary outcomes included temporal changes in Immediate-TH and admission temperatures for infants requiring transfer to tertiary centres.Results In UK maternity centres, 75 of 194 (38.7%) provided Immediate-TH in 2011 rising to 95 of 192 (49.5%, p=0.003) in 2018 with marked regional variations. In 2011, 394 842 (51.2%) of 771 176 births had no access to Immediate-TH compared with 276 258 (39.3%) of 702 794 births in 2018 (p<0.001). More infants with HIE arrived in the therapeutic temperature range (76.5% vs 67.3%; OR 1.58, 95% CI 1.25 to 2.0, p<0.001) with less overcooling (10.6% vs 14.3%; OR 0.71, 95% CI 0.51 to 0.98, p=0.036) from centres with Immediate-TH compared with those without.Conclusions Availability of active Immediate-TH has slowly increased although many newborns still have no access and rely on transport team arrival to commence active TH. This is associated with delayed optimal hypothermic management. Provision of Immediate-TH across all units, with appropriate training and support, could improve care of infants with HIE.All data relevant to the study are included in the article or uploaded as supplementary information. All National Birth statistics were obtained from publicly available databases. All survey data from UK-NTRC was contributed freely and under consent of each UK Neonatal Transport service. NNRD data extracted and supplied by the Neonatal Data Analysis (NDAU) were available from the corresponding author on reasonable request and with permission of the study team and NDAU.