Milestones of growth during the neonatal and follow up periods up to 2 years of age
| All subjects(n = 262) | R-VLBW(n = 94) | M-VLBW(n = 168) | Mean difference(95% confidence limits) | p Value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Values are mean (SEM). Confidence limits of mean difference are based on t distribution; p-values refer to two sample, two tail t tests. | |||||
| R-VLBW, Reference very low birthweight infants; M-VLBW, small for gestational age very low birthweight infants or those with major morbidity. | |||||
| Gestational age (weeks) | 30.4 (0.15) | 29.8 (0.15) | 30.8 (0.22) | 1.06 (0.44, 1.68) | 0.0008 |
| Birth weight (kg) | 1.134 (0.015) | 1.225 (0.019) | 1.083 (0.019) | −0.143 (−0.201, −0.084) | 0.0000 |
| Minimum postnatal weight | |||||
| Age (days) | 5.3 (0.10) | 5.6 (0.15) | 5.2 (0.13) | −0.41 (−0.83, 0.01) | 0.0534 |
| Weight (kg) | 1.005 (0.013) | 1.064 (0.017) | 0.972 (0.018) | −0.092 (−0.147, −0.038) | 0.0009 |
| Weight loss (kg) | 0.129 (0.004) | 0.161 (0.006) | 0.111 (0.004) | 0.050 (0.035, 0.065) | 0.0000 |
| Birthweight recovery | |||||
| Age (days) | 16.9 (0.36) | 18.3 (0.48) | 16.1 (0.47) | −2.25 (−3.68, −0.82) | 0.0022 |
| Velocity (g/day) | 18.4 (0.440 | 20.4 (0.67) | 17.3 (0.57) | −3.13 (−4.92, −1.34) | 0.0007 |
| Early neonatal peak of growth velocity | |||||
| Age (days) | 19.9 (0.53) | 18.7 (0.77) | 20.5 (0.70) | 1.78 (−0.38, 3.95) | 0.1064 |
| Weight (kg) | 1.233 (0.022) | 1.270 (0.028) | 1.212 (0.030) | −0.058 (−0.149, 0.032) | 0.2031 |
| Velocity (g/day) | 21.6 (0.63) | 21.7 (0.98) | 21.5 (0.81) | −0.23 (−2.82, 2.36) | 0.8595 |
| Neonatal take-off of growth velocity | |||||
| Age (days) | 29.5 (1.14) | 26.6 (1.46) | 31.2 (1.58) | 4.59 (−0.09, 9.27) | 0.0545 |
| Weight (kg) | 1.458 (0.039) | 1.449 (0.048) | 1.463 (0.056) | 0.014 (−0.150, 0.178) | 0.8655 |
| Velocity (g/day) | 18.5 (0.48) | 19.2 (0.75) | 18.1 (0.63) | −1.12 (−3.11, 0.87) | 0.2692 |
| Late neonatal peak of growth velocity | |||||
| Age (days) | 84.3 (1.97) | 79.4 (3.05) | 87.1 (2.54) | 7.66 (−0.42, 15.70) | 0.0632 |
| Weight (kg) | 2.911 (0.044) | 2.962 (0.065) | 2.882 (0.058) | −0.080 (−0.259, 0.100) | 0.3822 |
| Velocity (g/day) | 33.3 (0.48) | 36.4 (0.74) | 31.6 (0.58) | −4.75 (−6.63, −2.88) | 0.0000 |
| 6 month weight (kg) | 5.494 (0.054) | 5.846 (0.081) | 5.297 (0.066) | −0.549 (−0.761, −0.337) | 0.0000 |
| 12 month weight (kg) | 8.199 (0.067) | 8.636 (0.089) | 7.954 (0.086) | −0.682 (−0.944, −0.420) | 0.0000 |
| 18 month weight (kg) | 9.726 (0.078) | 10.228 (0.099) | 9.446 (0.102) | −0.783 (−1.089, −0.477) | 0.0000 |
| 24 month weight (kg) | 10.749 (0.087) | 11.303 (0.110) | 10.438 (0.115) | −0.865 (−1.209, −0.521) | 0.0000 |