TOBEN – Time of birth effects on neonates

Background Improving the (short- and long-term) outcome of neonates is an important goal in neonatology, with respect to the further development of children.

Primary care immediately after birth plays an important role in this context.

Past studies have already shown that performance of resident physicians is lower on night shifts than on day shifts. This suggests a higher risk for neonates in primary care and with respect to their future outcome.

In previous studies from Tanzania, Spain and Finland (Mgaya et al. 2017; Solis-Garcia et al. 2022; Karalis et al. 2019) it was shown that primary care outside the core working hours were associated with a higher risk of adverse outcome for neonates.

However, as health care systems in different countries vary strongly in their framework conditions, e.g. length of shifts, experience and number of professional staff, these data will now be collected in a German tertiary care center.

The goal of this study is to investigate the influence of the time of birth of neonates in the context of the German health care system.

Research question The present study evaluates whether there is a correlation between the time of birth (core working hours vs. night duty) and the outcome of infants.

Furthermore, it will analyse whether there is a correlation between the circumstances of primary care (emergency vs. elective care) and outcome.

Outcome in this case describes the specific morbidities of neonates, for example cerebral haemorrhage, necrotising enterocolitis, or time of ventilation as well as their neurocognitive and motor performance in early childhood.

Materials and methods The study „Time of birth effects on neonates (TOBEN)“ is a retrospective, monocentric, non-interventional, non-randomized, unblinded observational study.

The data of all patients who were hospitalized in the neonatal intensive care unit of the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf during the years 2017-2019 will be collected and analysed. The caseload is expected to be about 800 Patients.

Results Data assessment is ongoing.

 

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Publication History

Article published online:
06 June 2023