Funding outcome

Infants born prematurely or who have very difficult deliveries are at relatively high risk of death or lifelong health and developmental complications. Information is available on outcomes from national and international studies but these are either out of date or may not be relevant to infants cared for in Edmonton Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs). The Northern Alberta PREMATURE (PREdict and iMprove heAlth and developmenTal outcomes in at-Risk nEonates) project will collect information on health variables in the NICU as well as an innovative and predictive assessment of infant brain health. Infants are then seen in the Neonatal and Infant Follow Up Clinic at approximately 6 months of age to assess development. PREMATURE will identify key health characteristics that can be used to predict how a baby will develop over time. Key to this project is the development of a tool (based on a timely and flexible database) that can be used to facilitate counselling of parents, outcomes research, quality improvement, and timely feedback on clinical care to change current practice. It is also hoped that PREMATURE will identify health characteristics that can be manipulated or changed in the NICU and home environments through interventions that can lead improvements in health and development outcomes. A group of children born prior to 29 weeks and those who receiving cooling to minimize brain damage related to very difficult deliveries will be enrolled in this study over a 1-year period. Extensive information related to their care in the NICU will be collected as will an assessment of baby movements that is an indicator of overall brain health. These children will then be assessed at approximately 6 months of age to identify if any of the information collected in the NICU predicted how they do overtime. If outcomes can be predicted accurately with PREMATURE then infants at greatest risk can receive focussed intervention.