451 - A Blast from the Past: Surveying Medical Professionals' Awareness of Prematurity in Pediatric Versus Adult Patient Care

Publication Number: 4442.451

Adrianna Jelen, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States; Kathryn EK. Berlin, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States; Jayshil J. Patel, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States; Aprill Z. Dawson, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States

Background: Preterm birth is a multisystem disorder, and adult survivors are at greater risk for a variety of chronic disorders secondary to prematurity. With advances in neonatal care, most infants born prematurely survive into adulthood but often have significant morbidities persisting beyond the pediatric period. Premature birth affecting adult health prompts us to assume that all providers should be considering neonatal history; however, it is unclear if adult providers are aware of or assess birth history.

Objective: To evaluate differences in birth history assessment between adult and pediatric providers and assess awareness of providers' knowledge of the long term impacts of prematurity.

Design/Methods: We developed an anonymous eight-question Qualtrics survey and distributed it to pediatric and adult physicians and advanced practice providers within medical institutions across the United States. The survey included demographic questions and Likert-scale-based questions related to birth history and awareness of consequences of prematurity in adults. Responses from non-licensed providers were excluded from analysis. Data were analyzed using Strata v19.0, and Fischer’s Exact tests were used to compare responses across three categories of providers (adult, pediatric, combined). A p-value < 0.05 was used to define statistical significance. This study was approved by the Medical College of Wisconsin IRB.

Results: Among 234 respondents, 232 were included in the analysis with demographics shown in Table 1. Results of the survey are shown in Table 2. Perceptions of prematurity’s importance varied between adult and pediatric providers (Figure 1). Compared to 1% of adult providers, 45% of pediatric providers always inquired about prematurity (p < 0.001). Compared with 51% and 32% of adults who indicated prematurity was slightly or not at all important, 45% and 36% of pediatric providers rated prematurity as “extremely” or “very important” (p < 0.001). Compared to 19% of adults providers, 72% of pediatric and 69% of combined population providers reported awareness of long-term consequences of prematurity (p < 0.001).

Conclusion(s): Compared to pediatric providers, adult providers do not consider premature birth history when assessing their patients, tend to view prematurity as less significant, and are less familiar with its long-term health implications. These findings underscore the need to integrate education on the importance of obtaining a birth history into adult medicine training and practice, especially as more former premature infants survive into adulthood.

Table 1: Demographic Data
PASBHTable1.pdfThis table outlines the demographic data of participants who responded to the survey.

Table 2: Survey Results
PASBHTable2.pdfThis table summarizes survey responses by adult vs pediatric vs combined providers.

Figure 1: Provider Awareness and Practice Regarding Prematurity
PASBHFigure1.pdfHighlighted results from Table 2 showing the differences between adult and pediatric provider responses.