Utilization of healthcare by very-low-birthweight infants during their first year of life

New knowledge in perinatal medicine has resulted in increased survival of v ery-low-birthweight (VLBW) infants. After leaving hospital, the child is se en at regular medical check-ups. but there is often a persistent worry abou t the child which affects the family as a whole. This can lead to an increa sed utilization of healthcare. Our objective was therefore to describe the utilization of healthcare by VLBW infants during their first year of life a nd its relation to high-risk diagnoses in the neonatal period. The study gr oup comprised 36 infants born at gestational ages of less than or equal to 31 wk and with a birthweight of less than or equal to 1500 g, and was compa red with a control group of 36 full-term infants. Utilization of healthcare by the VLBW infants was higher than that by the c ontrol group in paediatric and ophthalmic outpatient clinics. The total num ber of contacts with healthcare was on average 38.7 versus 17.4. High-risk diagnoses in the neonatal period did not correlate with utilization of care , except for visits to the paediatric outpatient clinic, especially planned visits. Further studies focusing on how to support these families after le aving hospital are therefore needed.