Neonatal phototherapy and clinical characteristics : the Danish national patient registry 2000–2016

Yuelian Sun, Jesper Padkær Petersen, Chunsen Wu, Julie Werenberg Dreier, Rikke D. Maimburg\, Tine B. Rikke Damkjær, Tine Brink Henriksen

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Purpose: Phototherapy is the standard treatment for neonatal hyperbilirubinemia. It is important to collect data on phototherapy to support research related to the efficacy and safety of phototherapy. We explored the registration of phototherapy in the Danish National Patient Registry (DNPR) and the clinical characteristics of neonates treated with phototherapy. Methods: We identified children born alive in Denmark from 1 January 2000 through 30 November 2016 from the DNPR (N=1,044,502). We calculated the proportion of children registered that received phototherapy during the neonatal period and examined temporal trends, both nationwide and at the level of individual hospitals. In a sub-cohort of children born at Aarhus University Hospital (AUH) in 2002–2016 (N=71,781), we analyzed the proportions of children registered that received phototherapy, according to sex, gestational age, birth weight, and neonatal characteristics, like Apgar score, birth asphyxia, and infections. Results: We identified 11,295 (1.1%) registered that received phototherapy. The proportions of children registered that received phototherapy differed among hospitals (range: 0 to 4.1%). Nationwide registration was low during the study period, but it increased to 1.8% in 2016. For the AUH sub-cohort the proportion of children registered with phototherapy averaged 4.4% (N=3182, range:3.9– 5.1%). The proportion of children registered with phototherapy was inversely correlated with gestational age and birth weight, and positively correlated with neonatal characteristics, including low Apgar score, birth asphyxia, and infections. Conclusion: Phototherapy was under-reported in the DNPR and the proportions of children registered that received phototherapy differed among hospitals. The non-compulsory policy for reporting treatment and care in hospitals to the DNPR might explain the variation. The most consistent reporting was observed among children born in an university hospital, where 4.4% of children registered that received phototherapy, and phototherapy was inversely associated with gestational age, birth weight, and positively associated with clinical characteristics like birth asphyxia, and infections.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)123-136
Number of pages14
JournalClinical Epidemiology
Volume15
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2023

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Sun et al.

Open Access - Access Right Statement

© 2023 Sun et al. This work is published and licensed by Dove Medical Press Limited. The full terms of this license are available at https://www.dovepress.com/terms.php and incorporate the Creative Commons Attribution – Non Commercial (unported, v3.0) License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/). By accessing the work you hereby accept the Terms. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed. For permission for commercial use of this work, please see paragraphs 4.2 and 5 of our Terms (https://www.dovepress.com/terms.php)

Keywords

  • hyperbilirubinemia
  • Danish National Patient Registry
  • phototherapy
  • health administrative data
  • neonates
  • neonatal jaundice

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Neonatal phototherapy and clinical characteristics : the Danish national patient registry 2000–2016'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this