Maturation of thermal capabilities in preterm infants

Very low-birth-weight infants (VLBW) may initially require environmental te mperatures higher than skin temperature. We examined the correlation betwee n gestational age, birth weight, and the time to reach skin-air temperature equilibration (TTE) in VLBW infants. We also examined the effect of antena tal steroids on TTE in infants with birth weight < 1000 g. There is a signi ficant exponential correlation between TTE and birth weight or gestational age (p < 0.05). There was no significant change in TTE in infants who were treated antenatally with steroids, as compared with infants who were not tr eated. Multiple regression analysis with TTE as the dependent variable and birth weight or gestational age, race, betamethasone treatment, and gender as the independent variables showed a significant correlation between gesta tional age and TTE (p = 0.04). We conclude that thermal capabilities are ex ponentially correlated with gestational age or birth weight.