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Jon E. Tyson, MD, MPH; R. Sue Broyles, MD

JAMA. 1996;276(6):492-493.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

Despite the enormous effort of many investigators, a variety of problems have made it difficult to assess the long-term outcome of extremely low-birth-weight (ELBW [<1000 g]) infants in a valid, meaningful, and useful manner. For example, partly because of limited support, most follow-up programs have included only the ELBW infants discharged from a specific center, including maternal and neonatal referrals, thus potentially introducing selection bias. Ideally, all ELBW infants born to residents of a defined geographic region should be evaluated. In addition, loss of 20% to 30% of infants to follow-up might substantially bias the observed rate of handicap because the lost infants may not be representative of the whole group. Such loss is difficult to avoid in following high-risk populations for more than a few years after birth. It is also important to assure that the assessment of preterm infants is not affected by examiner expectations or biases; therefore, . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Author Affiliations
From the University of Texas, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine, Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, Tex.

Footnotes
Reprints: Jon E. Tyson, MD, MPH, Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Blvd, Dallas, TX 75235-9063.

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