Is jaundice linked to early discharge of newborns?
A University of California at San Francisco-Kaiser Permanente study has found that early discharge of newborns from the hospital — even less than 24 hours after birth — is not linked to an increase in the occurrence of extreme jaundice in this young population.The UCSF-Kaiser study analyzed data from 34,840 infants over 16 months. The infants were all born alive at 11 Kaiser Permanente Hospitals in Northern California between January 1995 and April 1996 with birth weights of 4.4 pounds or more.
Results showed that of the study population, 54 infants (or 0.14%) had a total bilirubin reading of greater than or equal to 25 mg/dl, the cutoff point for extreme hyperbilirubinemia in this particular study.
"Although we found extreme hyperbilirubinemia to be very rare in this large population, some babies seemed more at risk. These were Asian infants, males, and those less mature at birth," notes Thomas B. Newman, MD, MPH, associate professor in the UCSF Departments of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and Pediatrics and the lead author of the study.
"On the other hand, early discharge was not associated with extreme hyperbilirubinemia in the infants," concludes the UCSF researcher.
Gabriel J. Escobar, MD, a study co-investigator from Kaiser-Permanente, cautions, "There are other issues to be considered with respect to early newborn discharge, however, such as dehydration, that must be taken into account prior to discharging an infant at any age."
The research team used patient database information to determine if any link existed between early hospital discharge of a newborn and extreme jaundice. Of the study infants, 33% were discharged less than 24 hours after being born.
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