Bottom Line: This observational study looked at how common it was for people born premature to become adults without any major health conditions such as asthma, hypertension, diabetes and epilepsy, all of which have been associated with preterm birth. This analysis included birth registry data in Sweden for more than 2.5 million people born from 1973 to 1997, of whom 149,065 were born preterm (gestational age less than 37 weeks). Of all those born preterm, 54.6% were alive with no major medical conditions at ages 18 to 43 compared with 63% of people born at full-term. Limitations of the study include that detailed clinical data weren't available to validate health conditions and longer follow-up is needed to examine outcomes after the age of 43.
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Authors: Casey Crump, M.D., Ph.D., Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, and coauthors.
(doi:10.1001/jama.2019.15040)
Editor's Note: The article includes conflict of interest and funding/support disclosures. Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, financial disclosures, funding and support, etc.
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