AUTHOR=Rasmussen Marie Isabel , Hansen Mathias Lühr , Pichler Gerhard , Dempsey Eugene , Pellicer Adelina , EL-Khuffash Afif , A Shashidhar , Piris-Borregas Salvador , Alsina Miguel , Cetinkaya Merih , Chalak Lina , Özkan Hilal , Baserga Mariana , Sirc Jan , Fuchs Hans , Ergenekon Ebru , Arruza Luis , Mathur Amit , Stocker Martin , Otero Vaccarello Olalla , Szczapa Tomasz , Sarafidis Kosmas , Królak-Olejnik Barbara , Memisoglu Asli , Reigstad Hallvard , Rafińska-Ważny Elżbieta , Hatzidaki Eleftheria , Peng Zhang , Gkentzi Despoina , Viellevoye Renaud , De Buyst Julie , Mastretta Emmanuele , Wang Ping , Hahn Gitte Holst , Bender Lars , Cornette Luc , Tkaczyk Jakub , del Rio Ruth , Fumagalli Monica , Papathoma Evangelia , Wilinska Maria , Naulaers Gunnar , Sadowska-Krawczenko Iwona , Lecart Chantal , Couce María Luz , Fredly Siv , Heuchan Anne Marie , Karen Tanja , Greisen Gorm 

TITLE=Extremely Preterm Infant Admissions Within the SafeBoosC-III Consortium During the COVID-19 Lockdown

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Pediatrics

VOLUME=9

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/pediatrics/articles/10.3389/fped.2021.647880

DOI=10.3389/fped.2021.647880

ISSN=2296-2360

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Objective:</bold> To evaluate if the number of admitted extremely preterm (EP) infants (born before 28 weeks of gestational age) differed in the neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) of the SafeBoosC-III consortium during the global lockdown when compared to the corresponding time period in 2019.</p><p><bold>Design:</bold> This is a retrospective, observational study. Forty-six out of 79 NICUs (58%) from 17 countries participated. Principal investigators were asked to report the following information: (1) Total number of EP infant admissions to their NICU in the 3 months where the lockdown restrictions were most rigorous during the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, (2) Similar EP infant admissions in the corresponding 3 months of 2019, (3) the level of local restrictions during the lockdown period, and (4) the local impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on the everyday life of a pregnant woman.</p><p><bold>Results:</bold> The number of EP infant admissions during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic was 428 compared to 457 in the corresponding 3 months in 2019 (−6.6%, 95% CI −18.2 to +7.1%, <italic>p</italic> = 0.33). There were no statistically significant differences within individual geographic regions and no significant association between the level of lockdown restrictions and difference in the number of EP infant admissions. A <italic>post-hoc</italic> analysis based on data from the 46 NICUs found a decrease of 10.3%in the total number of NICU admissions (<italic>n</italic> = 7,499 in 2020 vs. <italic>n</italic> = 8,362 in 2019).</p><p><bold>Conclusion:</bold> This <italic>ad hoc</italic> study did not confirm previous reports of a major reduction in the number of extremely pretermbirths during the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.</p><p><bold>Clinical Trial Registration:</bold><ext-link ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="http://ClinicalTrial.gov" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">ClinicalTrial.gov</ext-link>, identifier: NCT04527601 (registered August 26, 2020), <ext-link ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04527601" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04527601</ext-link>.</p>