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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Pediatr.
Sec. Children and Health
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fped.2025.1506244
This article is part of the Research Topic Care of the extremely preterm infant View all articles

The growth diversity of preterm infants at 0 -36 months ' corrected age in China-a real-world observational study

Provisionally accepted
Dongchi Zhao Dongchi Zhao 1,2*Xia Wang Xia Wang 2Shu Wen Feng Shu Wen Feng 2Pu Yang Pu Yang 2Yuxin Wang Yuxin Wang 2Cong Wei Cong Wei 2Junwen Zheng Junwen Zheng 2Pin Liu Pin Liu 2Lihong Liao Lihong Liao 2Xiao Yang Xiao Yang 2Peibin Xu Peibin Xu 3Junmei Bian Junmei Bian 4Xiaoping Luo Xiaoping Luo 5Yuanzhen Zhang Yuanzhen Zhang 2
  • 1 Wuhan University, Wuhan, China
  • 2 Zhongnan Hospital, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
  • 3 Qingdao University, Qingdao, Shandong Province, China
  • 4 Wuhan Third Hospital, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
  • 5 Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Premature delivery interrupts the natural growth of the fetus. Postnatal healthy management of preterm infants still follows term standards after postmenstrual age (PMA) 40w, there is a lack of description on longitudinal dynamic postnatal growth tracks of preterm infants.Based on the Database established by Wuhan University Internet+ Early Childhood Development Alliance, China, the information of preterm infants with birth registration and health follow-up from 2016 to 2022 was incorporated into the health management system. Standardized anthropometric measurements of preterm infants were recorded from birth to corrected age (CA) 36 months. A generalized additive model based on location, scale, and shape was used to establish the percentile values and growth curves. Results:79514 preterm infants were included in this study, birth weights born at each GA were similar with Chinese standards. When evaluated by term birth weight, we found proportions of extrauterine growth retardation at PMA 40w were all above 10% in GA≤34w groups, and reached up to 17.19%-55.56% in very preterm infants (VPIs). There was a high incidence of preterm infants with weight below 3rd percentile in VPIs referred to term standards at CA 0, 6, 12, 24, 36 months (p<0.001). We established natural growth curves of preterm population with different GAs between CA 0-36 months, which indicated that weight/length of late preterm infants was close to term standards while the growth trajectory of VPIs consistently lagged behind (p<0.001).Our study revealed the discordant growth trajectories between preterm infants with different GAs. A set of growth curves and percentile values for preterm infants of each GA between CA 0-36 months were established, offering an optional method for growth assessment of this special population.

    Keywords: BMI, Body mass index CA: Corrected age CDHDC, Children's Digital Health and Data Center CNS, Chinese newborns standard EPI, Extremely preterm infants EUGR, Extrauterine growth retardation GAMLSS, Generalized Additive Models for Location, Scale and Shape HC

    Received: 04 Oct 2024; Accepted: 13 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Zhao, Wang, Feng, Yang, Wang, Wei, Zheng, Liu, Liao, Yang, Xu, Bian, Luo and Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Dongchi Zhao, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.