ENROLLMENT OF A POPULATION-BASED COHORT OF NEWBORNS AT HIGHER RISK OFDEVELOPING A CHRONIC CONDITION - THE EDEN STUDY

Objective. To describe the methods used at birth to recruit a populati on-based cohort of newborns of all birthweights at higher risk of havi ng a chronic condition, and to present baseline results. Methods. Scre ening of ail newborns at hospital discharge for five non-exclusive cri teria: (1) low birthweight (LBW), (2) congenital anomalies or genetic disease, (3) specified conditions associated with a high probability o f chronicity, (4) referral to a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), ( 5) or defined social problems. Calculation of Hobel risk scores for ch ildren satisfying greater than or equal to 1 criterion. Subjects. Ail 6477 live births delivered in the 19 maternity hospitals of a geograph ically defined region (Vaud, Switzerland) to resident mothers in 1993- 1994. Results. Twelve per cent (n = 760) of newborns met greater than or equal to 1 criterion: 6.3% or all newborns had an LBW (criterion 1) , 2.4% had a birth defect, 0.90% met criterion (3), 4.4% stayed in an NICU and 1.6% had serious social problems, Hobel prenatal score was hi gh (greater than or equal to 10 points) for 41% of children with great er than or equal to 1 criterion, the intrapartum score for 87% and the neonatal score for 68%. Conclusions. Most newborns identified by the above simple criteria also had elevated perinatal risks. The validity of the criteria will later be tested against the results of the examin ations of children with greater than or equal to 1 criterion at 18 mon ths and 4 years of age, but the assessment at birth already shows that normal birthweight (NBW) children, in agreement with previous studies , contribute halt the children at high risk perinatally.