Increasing prevalence of cerebral palsy in children born very preterm in Denmark.
Martha Veber Fogh, Gorm Greisen, Tine Dalsgaard Clausen and 3 others
PMID 38994777WHAT IT FOUND
CP prevalence among Danish children born very preterm increased by 3.5% annually from 2003 to 47.8 per 1000 live births in 2013, while neonatal mortality fell.
This is a population trend, not evidence that therapy changes CP risk.
Key findings
01CP prevalence among children born very preterm increased by 3.5% annually from 2003 to 47.8 per 1000 live births in 2013.
02Neonatal mortality among all preterm births declined by 3.8% annually, and among very preterm births declined by 7.1% annually.
03Most children born preterm with CP had mild motor deficits (59.6%), and the proportion with mild deficits did not change significantly.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The study covers only Danish children born at 23+0 to 36+6 weeks from 1997 to 2013, so the trend may not apply to other countries or birth years. CP diagnoses came from two different registries over time, so part of the trend could reflect data collection, although the authors state the change did not correlate with the registry switch. Some neonatal treatments may have been underreported early, especially phototherapy and CPAP. Important risk factors such as chorioamnionitis and postnatal steroids were not available, and very rare factors were excluded. The study describes trends and associations in register data; it cannot show that any clinical factor or care approach caused CP.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the rising CP prevalence as proof that neonatal care or any treatment caused CP. The study is a register-based population trend and reports that the increase matched falling neonatal mortality, not that a specific intervention produced CP.