J Korean Med Sci.  2017 Aug;32(8):1228-1234. 10.3346/jkms.2017.32.8.1228.

Improvement in the Survival Rates of Very Low Birth Weight Infants after the Establishment of the Korean Neonatal Network: Comparison between the 2000s and 2010s

• Chung SH
• Bae CW

• KMID: 2439454
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2017.32.8.1228

Abstract

The survival rate (SR) of very low birth weight infants (VLBWIs) and extremely low birth weight infants (ELBWIs) is a health indicator of neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) outcomes. The Korean Neonatal Network (KNN) was established in 2013, and a system has been launched to manage the registration and quality improvement of VLBWIs. The SR of the VLBWIs significantly increased to 85.7% in the 2010s compared with 83.0% in the 2000s. There was also a significant increase in the SR of the ELBWIs from 66.1% to 70.7%. The equipment, manpower, and assistance systems of NICUs also improved in quantity and quality. In the international comparison of the SRs of VLBWIs, the SRs were 93.8%, 92.2%, 90.2%, 89.4%, 86.4%, 85.1%, and 80.6% in Japan, Australia and New Zealand, Canada, Europe, Korea, Taiwan, and United States, respectively. In conclusion, the SRs of the VLBWIs and ELBWIs improved in the 2010s compared with those in the 2000s in Korea. This improvement is considered to have been related to the role of the KNN built in 2013. However, the latest VLBWI and ELBWI SRs in 2015 are still low compared with those in Japan, Australia and New Zealand, Canada, and Europe. In the future, we must establish and develop the tasks that are presented as future tasks in this review.

Keyword

Infant, Very Low Birth Weight; Infant, Extremely Low Birth Weight; Survival Rates; Intensive Care; Neonatal National Survey; Korean Neonatal Network

MeSH Terms

Australia
Canada
Critical Care
Europe
Humans
Infant*
Infant, Extremely Low Birth Weight
Infant, Low Birth Weight
Infant, Newborn
Infant, Very Low Birth Weight*
Intensive Care, Neonatal
Japan
Korea
New Zealand
Quality Improvement
Survival Rate*
Taiwan
United States

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1 Comparison of the neonatal SRs of VLBWIs and ELBWIs between Korea, Japan, US, Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, and Taiwan. Data adapted from Shim et al. (23). SR = survival rate, VLBWIs = very low birth weight infants, ELBWIs = extremely low birth weight infants, KNN = Korean Neonatal Network (10), NRNJ = Neonatal Research Network of Japan (24), VON = Vermont Oxford Network (US; 25); CNN = Canadian Neonatal Network (26), ANZNN = Australian and New Zealand Neonatal Network (27), EuroNeoNet = European Neonatal Network (28), TPIFN = Taiwan Premature Infant Follow-up Network.

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