Association between antenatal corticosteroids and risk of serious infection in children: nationwide cohort study
Abstract
Abstract Objective To investigate the associations between exposure to antenatal corticosteroids and serious infection in children during the first three, six, and 12 months of life. Design Nationwide cohort study. Setting National Health Insurance Research Database, Birth Reporting Database, and Maternal and Child Health Database, 1 January 2008 to 31 December 2019, to identify all pregnant individuals and their offspring in Taiwan. Participants 1 960 545 pairs of pregnant individuals and their singleton offspring. 45 232 children were exposed and 1 915 313 were not exposed to antenatal corticosteroids. Main outcome measures Incidence rates were estimated for overall serious infection, sepsis, pneumonia, acute gastroenteritis, pyelonephritis, meningitis or encephalitis, cellulitis or soft tissue infection, septic arthritis or osteomyelitis, and endocarditis during the first three, six, and 12 months of life in children exposed versus those not exposed to antenatal corticosteroids. Cox proportional hazards models were performed to quantify adjusted hazard ratios with 95% confidence intervals for each study outcome. Results The study cohort was 1 960 545 singleton children: 45 232 children were exposed to one course of antenatal corticosteroids and 1 915 313 children were not exposed to antenatal corticosteroids. The adjusted hazard ratios for overall serious infection, sepsis, pneumonia, and acute gastroenteritis among children exposed to antenatal corticosteroids were…
How strong is the evidence?
Evidence Hub reads this as a cohort study, done in people. Its evidence level is 3 of 5 (Moderate · trial / cohort / secondary analysis). Trials without a large randomized design, cohorts and secondary analyses give moderate evidence. Reported size: 960 participants or records.
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