Factors Related to Birth Transition Success of Late Preterm Infants

The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of, and clinical-epidemiological and demographic predictive factors for, birth transition success of late preterm infants. A retrospective, case-control chart review was used to compare the characteristics of successful and unsuccessful birth transition of late-preterm infants delivered in a large tertiary-care center. Categorical and numeric variables related to maternal, birth, and physiologic constructs were analyzed. Four predictor variables were associated with birth transition failure: labor (OR = .42, P = .014), 5-minute Apgar score (OR = 1.79, P = .003), gender (OR = .47, P =.043) and respiratory rate (OR = 2.08, P < .001). The overall classification rate for the model was 70.3%. Transition success and failure were accurately assigned at a rate of 66.7% and 74%, respectively. The primary implication of this research is that the absence of labor, male gender, low Apgar scoring, and tachypnea (>60) were identified as a risk factors for transition failure of late preterm infants.