Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Pediatrics and Parenting
Date Submitted: Jan 23, 2024
Date Accepted: Aug 19, 2024
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Digital health use and the likelihood of Neonatal Intensive Care Unit admissions: Opportunities and potential mechanisms for impact
ABSTRACT
Background:
Background:
Admission to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), is costly and has been associated with financial and emotional stress amongst families. Digital health may be well-equipped to impact modifiable health behaviors that contribute to NICU admission rates.
Objective:
Objective:
To investigate how utilization of a comprehensive prenatal digital health platform is associated with gestational age at birth and mechanisms to reduce risk of admission to the NICU.
Methods:
Methods:
Data were extracted from 3326 users who enrolled in a comprehensive digital health platform between January 2020 and May 2022. Multivariable linear and logistic regression models were used to estimate the association between duration of digital health utilization and gestational age at birth and mechanisms to reduce risk of a NICU admission. Multivariable logistic regression models estimated the associations between gestational age at birth and mechanisms to reduce risk of a NICU admission, and the likelihood of a NICU admission. All analyses were stratified by presence of any gestational conditions during pregnancy.
Results:
Results:
For users both with and without gestational conditions, the duration of digital health utilization was positively associated with gestational age at birth and several mechanisms that have the potential to reduce risk of a NICU admission, including, learning medically accurate information, managing mental health, and identifying warning signs during pregnancy. For users with and without gestational conditions, an increase in gestational age at birth was associated with a decreased likelihood of NICU admission. Among users who developed gestational conditions, those who reported that the platform helped them understand warning signs during pregnancy had lower odds of a NICU admission [OR(95% CI)]= 0.63 (0.45, 0.89), p=0.009].
Conclusions:
Conclusion: Digital health utilization may aid in increasing gestational age at birth and reduce risk of NICU admission.
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