Exploring Social and Demographic Factors as Determinants of Intestinal Inflammation in Very Low Birth-Weight Infants.
Katelyn Desorcy-Scherer, Michael Weaver, Leslie A Parker
PMID 34670954WHAT IT FOUND
African American infants had higher adjusted stool calprotectin levels than non-African American infants, and infants with private insurance had higher adjusted levels than infants with Medicaid; S100A12 showed no differences.
Key findings
01After controlling for clinical covariates, African American infants had higher adjusted calprotectin least-square means than non-African American infants.
02Private insurance coverage was associated with higher adjusted calprotectin least-square means than Medicaid coverage.
03No social, demographic, or clinical factor had a statistically significant relationship with S100A12 levels.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
This was a secondary analysis of existing data, so it cannot show that race, insurance status, or other factors caused intestinal inflammation. The study used insurance status as a proxy for socioeconomic status and only grouped race as African American or non-African American. Many S100A12 values were missing, which may have limited the ability to find relationships. Calprotectin and S100A12 vary a lot between infants and within the same infant over time. Mother's own milk feeding was measured as one median percentage over six weeks, not as detailed longitudinal feeding exposure. The results are exploratory and do not show that these biomarker differences predict NEC or other clinical outcomes.
Declared interests
The funding and conflicts section does not state external funding or commercial conflicts. It notes that coauthor Dr. Parker was a section editor for the journal but was not involved in editorial review or the decision to publish.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that African American infants or infants with private insurance are at higher risk for necrotizing enterocolitis. The study found exploratory biomarker associations, not clinical outcomes, and the differences may still fall within non-pathological ranges. It also found no significant S100A12 associations.