HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS REGISTER		Author Keyword(s) Vol Page [Advanced]

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: adc.2007.130880v1 93/4/F307    most recent Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this link to a friend Similar articles in ADC Online Similar articles in PubMed Add article to my folders Download to citation manager Request Permissions Google Scholar Articles by Flaherman, V J Articles by Newman, T B PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Flaherman, V J Articles by Newman, T B

Predicting significant hyperbilirubinaemia using birth weight

¹ Division of General Pediatrics, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA
² Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program, Oakland, California, USA
³ Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
⁴ Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA

Correspondence to:
Dr V Flaherman, University of California, San Francisco, 3333 California St, Box 0503, San Francisco, CA 94143-0503, USA; FlahermanV{at}peds.ucsf.edu

Background: A recent study proposed a risk factor scoring system for prediction of hyperbilirubinaemia that assigned increased risk to infants of higher birth weight.

Objective: To investigate this novel finding in a large, retrospective cohort analysis.

Methods: 105 384 newborns (2000 g and 36 weeks) were analysed, and the effect of higher birth weight on total serum bilirubin (TSB) 342 µmol/l was reported using logistic regression to control for gestational age, scalp injury diagnosis, maternal diabetes, method of delivery and other confounders.

Results: The odds ratio for the effect of an additional 500 g of birth weight on TSB 342 µmol/l declined with increasing gestational age from 1.55 (95% CI 1.28 to 1.87) at 36 weeks to 1.30 (95% CI 1.12 to 1.50) at 37 weeks and 1.14 (95% CI 1.01 to 1.29) at 38 weeks. There was no association for infants 39 weeks.

Conclusion: Higher birth weight predicts TSB 342 µmol/l in 36–38 week infants, but not in infants 39 weeks. Further research should explore the causal mechanism for the association in less-mature infants.