SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Pediatr.
Sec. Neonatology
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fped.2025.1628472
Prevalence of survival without major morbidity and associated risk factors among very preterm infants: a systematic review and metaanalysis
Provisionally accepted- 1Department of Pediatrics, Shenzhen Longgang District Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital, Shenzhen, China
- 2Department of Neonatology, The Central Hospital of Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Enshi, China
- 3Department of Neonatology, Shenzhen Luohu People's Hospital, Shenzhen, China
- 4Department of Neonatology, Shenzhen People's Hospital, The Second Clinical Medical College of Jinan University, First Affiliated Hospital of Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Survival without major morbidity (SWMM) in very preterm infants represents a critical outcome measure in neonatal care. This systematic review evaluates both the prevalence of SWMM among infants born before 32 weeks' gestation and the associated risk factors.We conducted a comprehensive search of PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Cochrane Library, Scopus, CNKI, CBM, and Wanfang databases from inception through February 4, 2025. Two independent reviewers performed study selection and data extraction. Study quality was assessed using the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) checklist for cross-sectional studies and the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) for cohort studies. Pooled prevalence was calculated using a random-effects model. Heterogeneity was explored through subgroup analyses and metaregression, and publication bias was assessed via funnel plots and further evaluated with trim-and-fill analysis. Risk factors were evaluated using multivariate meta-analysis of adjusted odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs).Results: From 1,606 screened articles, 35 studies spanning twelve countries met inclusion criteria. The pooled SWMM incidence was 47% (95% CI: 40-54%), with notable gestational age stratification: 67% (95% CI: 62-72%) for infants <32 weeks versus 44% (95% CI: 26-61%) for those <28 weeks. Meta-analysis identified gestational age maturity (OR 1.65; 95% CI: 1.50-1.81), antenatal corticosteroid administration (OR 1.46; 95% CI: 1.12-1.89), and higher 5-minute Apgar scores (OR 1.21; 95% CI: 1.06-1.37) as positive predictors of SWMM. Conversely, male sex (OR 0.62; 95% CI: 0.55-0.71) and hemodynamically significant patent ductus arteriosus (OR 0.51; 95% CI: 0.38-0.69) showed negative associations with SWMM.The review reports a 47% SWMM rate among very preterm infants, with higher rates observed in infants of later gestational age. Key predictors include gestational age, 5-minute Apgar score, and antenatal corticosteroids, while male sex and patent ductus arteriosus are associated with reduced SWMM. Limitations include heterogeneity in SWMM definitions and geographic variability. Future research should focus on standardizing outcome measures and validating risk factors through multinational studies.
Keywords: very preterm infants 1, survival 2, morbidity 3, Prevalence 4, risk factor 5, metaanalysis 6
Received: 14 May 2025; Accepted: 01 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 ZHANG, Wang, Wan, Xiong, Rao, Yu and Wu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Zhangbin Yu, Department of Neonatology, Shenzhen People's Hospital, The Second Clinical Medical College of Jinan University, First Affiliated Hospital of Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China
Genfeng Wu, Department of Pediatrics, Shenzhen Longgang District Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital, Shenzhen, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.