Jisu Kim; Hye-Eun Kim; Kyung-Suk Lee; Sung-Hoon Chung; Yong-Sung Choi; Chong-Woo Bae; Korean Neonatal Network

doi:10.14734/PN.2019.30.1.1

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Kim, Kim, Lee, Chung, Choi, Bae, and Network: The Incidence and Survival Rate of Very Low Birth Weight Infants in Korea (2013–2016): A Comparison of the Statistics Korea and the Korean Neonatal Network and Improvements

Original Article

Perinatology 2019;30(1):1-7.

Published online: 20 March 2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.14734/PN.2019.30.1.1

The Incidence and Survival Rate of Very Low Birth Weight Infants in Korea (2013–2016): A Comparison of the Statistics Korea and the Korean Neonatal Network and Improvements

Jisu Kim, MD¹, Hye-Eun Kim, MD¹, Kyung-Suk Lee, MD², Sung-Hoon Chung, MD^1,, Yong-Sung Choi, MD¹, Chong-Woo Bae, MD¹, Korean Neonatal Network

¹Department of Pediatrics, Kyung Hee University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

²Department of Pediatrics, CHA Bundang Medical Center, CHA University, Seongnam, Korea

Correspondence to Sung-Hoon Chung, MD Department of Pediatrics, Kyung Hee University Hospital, 23 Kyungheedaero, Dongdaemoon-gu, Seoul 02447, Korea

Received 20 July 2018 Revised 22 August 2018 Accepted 27 September 2018

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Objective

We aimed to compare the total number of live births and survival rates of very low birth weight infants (VLBWIs) from the Statistics Korea and the Korean Neonatal Network (KNN) data between 2013 and 2016, and to find out the direction in which the total number of VLBWIs is included in KNN.

Methods

We obtained the number of live births and deaths of VLBWIs and extremely low birth weight infants among vital statistics of the Statistics Korea from 2013 to 2016 and compared the differences with KNN data using the KNN annual reports during the same period.

Results

The survival rates were 84.2%, 86.5%, 84.9% for VLBWIs in the Statistics Korea, and 83.4%, 86.4%, 84.6% in the KNN data from 2014 to 2016. There was no significant difference between the data. The rates of registration of VLBWIs (registration number of the KNN/registration number of the Statistics Korea) showed 50.8%, 87.7%, 87.7%, 88.3% between 2013 and 2016, respectively. It showed an increasing trend every year. However, registration rates according to the birth weight (BW) and gestational age (GA) were significantly lower in BW of less than 400 g and GA of less than 22 weeks.

Conclusion

KNN is considered to be a good database representing the number of births of VLBWIs born in Korea. However, it is necessary to establish the GA of survival limits in the data of the Statistics Korea, and acquire data on the number of VLBWIs who are not collected by hospitals and clinics in Korea.

Keywords: Very low birth weight infants, Live birth, Survival rate, Vital statistics

References

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Fig. 1.

Average registration rates (registration number of the KNN/re-gistration number of the Statistics Korea [%]) by birth weight (grams) (2014–2016). These data quoted from Bae and Chung³ and The Executive Committee of Korean Neonatal Network^8–10 with permission. KNN, Korean Neonatal Network.

Fig. 2.

Average registration rates (registration number of the KNN/re-gistration number of the Statistics Korea [%]) by pregnancy period (weeks) (2014–2016). These data quoted from Bae and Chung³ and The Executive Committee of Korean Neonatal Network^8–10 with permission. KNN, Korean Neonatal Network.

Table 1.

Total Number of Birth and Percentage on VLBWIs and ELBWIs in Korea (2013–2016)

Year	No. of births	VLBWIs	ELBWIs
2013	436,455	2,961 (0.68)	1,144 (0.26)
2014	435,435	2,870 (0.66)	1,119 (0.26)
2015	438,420	3,031 (0.69)	1,133 (0.26)
2016	406,243	2,781 (0.68)	1,030 (0.25)

Values are presented as number (%). These data quoted from Bae and Chung

³ with permission. Abbreviations: No., number; VLBWIs, very low birth weight infants; ELBWIs, extremely low birth weight infants.

Table 2.

The Number and Percentage of Neonatal Deaths in Korea (2013–2016)

Year	No. of neonatal deaths	VLBWIs	ELBWIs
2013	752	434 (57.7)	350 (46.5)
2014	743	454 (61.1)	365 (49.1)
2015	677	409 (60.4)	337 (50.5)
2016	660	419 (63.5)	351 (53.2)

Values are presented as number (%). These data quoted from Bae and Chung

³ with permission. Abbreviations: No., number; VLBWIs, very low birth weight infants; ELBWIs, extre mely low birth weight infants. ∗Death within 28 days after birth.

Table 3.

Differences in Registration Number between the Statist Korea and the KNN and Registration Rate (2013–2016)

	Year	Statistics Korea No. of births (A)	KNN∗ No. of births (B)	Differences (B-A)	B/ (%
VLBWIs	2013	2,961	1,502	–1,459	50.
	2014	2,870	2,128	–353	87.
	2015	3,031	2,657	–374	87.
	2016	2,781	2,457	–324	88.
ELBWIs	2013	1,144	589	–555	51.
	2014	1,119	980	–139	87.
	2015	1,133	985	–148	86.
	2016	1,030	918	–112	89.

These data quoted from Bae and Chung

³ and The Executive Committee of Kore Neonatal Network

^7–10 with permission. Abbreviations: KNN, Korean Neonatal Network; No., number; VLBWIs, very l birth weight infants; ELBWIs, extremely low birth weight infants. ∗Include unregistered cases.

Table 4.

Comparison of the Number of Births and the Survival Rate on VLBWIs and ELBWIs between the Statistics Korea and the KN (2014–2016)

		Statistics Korea∗		KNN^†		P-valu
		No. of births	SR (%)	No. of births	SR (%)	P-valu
VLBWIs	2014	2,870	84.2	2,517	83.4	0.546
	2015	3,031	86.5	2,657	86.4	0.857
	2016	2,781	84.9	2,457	84.6	0.737
ELBWIs	2014	1,119	67.4	980	67.1	0.316
	2015	1,133	70.3	985	70.9	0.908
	2016	1,030	65.9	918	65.5	0.856

These data quoted from The Executive Committee of Korean Neonatal Network

^8- with permission. Abbreviations: VLBWIs, very low birth weight infants; ELBWIs, extremely low birt weight infants; KNN, Korean Neonatal Network; No., number; SR, survival rates. ∗Death within 28 days after birth.

^† Include unregistered cases.

Table 5.

Comparison of the Survival Rates between the Statistics Korea and the KNN by birth weight (2014–2016)

	2014		2015		2016
Birth weight group (g)	Statistics Korea∗	KNN^†	Statistics Korea∗	KNN^†	Statistics Korea∗	KNN^†
Birth weight group (g)	No. of Survival births No. (SR∗ [%])	No. of Survival births^† No. (SR∗ [%])	No. of Survival births No. (SR∗ [%])	Survival No. of No. (SR∗ [%]) births^†	No. of Survival births No. (SR∗ [%])	No. of births^† Survival No. (SR∗ [%])
<400	31 3 (9.7)	15 2 (13.3)	45 2 (4.4)	12 1 (8.3)	30 2 (6.7)	13 0 (0.0)
400–499	61 21 (34.4)	44 18 (40.9)	70 19 (27.1)	54 17 (31.5)	69 12 (17.4)	47 11 (23.4)
500–599	135 53 (39.3)	118 51 (43.2)	116 50 (43.1)	99 39 (39.4)	108 52 (48.1)	89 38 (42.7)
600–699	172 99 (57.6)	155 86 (55.5)	184 109 (59.2)	159 97 (61.0)	176 97 (55.1)	156 83 (53.2)
700–799	200 141 (70.5)	187 122 (65.2)	210 160 (76.2)	190 136 (71.6)	196 134 (68.4)	181 115 (63.5)
800–899	235 189 (80.4)	205 165 (80.5)	245 214 (87.3)	224 177 (79.0)	212 174 (82.1)	205 160 (78.0)
900–999	285 248 (87.0)	256 214 (83.6)	263 242 (92.0)	247 231 (93.5)	239 208 (87.0)	227 194 (85.5)
1,000–1,099	280 262 (93.6)	256 230 (89.8)	301 277 (92.0)	263 238 (90.5)	262 235 (89.7)	216 190 (88.0)
1,100–1,199	280 263 (93.9)	237 219 (92.4)	335 322 (96.1)	314 296 (94.3)	296 282 (95.3)	264 252 (95.5)
1,200–1,299	333 315 (94.6)	299 276 (92.3)	394 383 (97.2)	349 336 (96.3)	340 336 (98.8)	314 308 (98.1)
1,300–1,399	402 384 (95.5)	353 339 (96.0)	374 363 (97.1)	318 310 (97.5)	401 387 (96.5)	351 342 (97.4)
1,400–1,499	456 438 (96.1)	392 378 (96.4)	494 481 (97.4)	428 418 (97.7)	452 443 (98.0)	394 385 (97.7)
Total	2,870 2,416 (84.2)	2,517 2,100 (83.4)	3,031 2,622 (86.5)	2,657 2,296 (86.4)	2,781 2,362 (84.9)	2,457 2,078 (84.6)

These data quoted from Bae and Chung

³ and The Executive Committee of Korean Neonatal Network

^8–10 with permission. Abbreviations: KNN, Korean Neonatal Network; No., number; SR, survival rates. ∗Death within 28 days after birth.

^† Include unregistered cases.

Table 6.

Comparison of the Survival rates between the Statistics Korea and the KNN by pregnancy period (2014–2016)

Pregnanc period group (weeks)	2014				2015				2016
	Statistics Korea∗		KNN^†		Statistics Korea∗		KNN^†		Statistics Korea∗		KNN^†
	No. of births	Survival No. (SR∗ [%])	No. of births	Survival No. (SR∗ [%])	No. of births	Survival No. (SR∗ [%])	No. of births	Survival No. (SR∗ [%])	No. of births	Survival No. (SR∗ [%])	No. of births	Survival No. (SR∗ [%])
<22	26	2 (7.7)	10	2 (20.0)	42	0 (0.0)	8	0 (0.0)	32	2 (6.3)	7	0 (0.0)
22	35	3 (8.6)	25	2 (8.0)	43	11 (25.6)	30	4 (13.3)	45	7 (15.6)	28	5 (17.9)
23	118	33 (28.0)	96	35 (36.5)	113	33 (29.2)	90	35 (38.9)	91	36 (39.6)	75	27 (36.0)
24	169	90 (53.3)	154	74 (48.1)	156	99 (63.5)	132	72 (54.5)	169	96 (56.8)	159	81 (50.9)
25	219	164 (74.9)	207	154 (74.4)	239	183 (76.6)	235	172 (73.2)	185	116 (62.7)	175	102 (58.3)
26	273	217 (79.5)	245	175 (71.4)	267	221 (82.8)	250	202 (80.8)	229	185 (80.8)	224	170 (75.9)
27	279	250 (89.6)	263	226 (85.9)	311	278 (89.4)	294	257 (87.4)	267	237 (88.8)	246	213 (86.6)
28	353	322 (91.2)	321	292 (91.0)	404	380 (94.1)	359	336 (93.6)	354	330 (93.2)	306	283 (92.5)
29	370	350 (94.6)	314	297 (94.6)	386	373 (96.6)	354	332 (93.8)	382	368 (96.3)	344	330 (95.9)
30	320	299 (93.4)	260	238 (91.5)	347	339 (97.7)	284	278 (97.9)	310	299 (96.5)	285	278 (97.5)
31	236	230 (97.5)	228	219 (96.1)	224	221 (98.7)	192	188 (97.9)	244	236 (96.7)	217	208 (95.9)
32	169	164 (97.0)	146	142 (97.3)	158	154 (97.5)	135	134 (99.3)	164	160 (97.6)	154	149 (96.8)
33	111	110 (99.1)	96	95 (99.0)	136	134 (98.5	124	123 (99.2)	113	108 (95.6)	91	87 (95.6)
34	101	98 (97.0)	80	79 (98.8)	104	101 (97.1)	88	85 (96.6)	95	93 (97.9)	74	73 (98.6)
35	45	44 (97.8)	40	38 (95.0)	56	54 (96.4)	53	51 (96.2)	51	49 (96.1)	43	43 (100.0)
36	34	29 (85.3)	21	21 (100.0)	27	27 (100)	20	20 (100.0)	33	30 (90.9)	23	23 (100.0)
≥37	12	11 (91.7)	10	10 (100.0)	18	15 (83.3)	9	7 (77.8)	17	10 (58.8)	6	6 (100.0)
Total	2,870	2,416 (84.2)	2,516	2,099 (83.4)	3,031	,2622 (86.5)	2,657	2,296 (86.4)	2,781	2,362 (84.9)	2,457	2,078 (84.6)

These data quoted from Bae and Chung

³ and The Executive Committee of Korean Neonatal Network

^8–10 with permission. Abbreviations: KNN, Korean Neonatal Network; No., number; SR, survival rates. ∗Death within 28 days after birth.

^† Include unregistered cases.

Table 7.

Comparison of the Number of Births and Registration Rate between the Statistics Korea and the KNN by Birth Weight (2014–2016)

Birth weight group (g)	2014			2015			2016
Birth weight group (g)	Statistics Korea (A)	KNN∗ (B)	B/A (%)	Statistics Korea (C)	KNN∗ (D)	C/D (%)	Statistics Korea (E)	KNN∗ (F)	E/F (%)
<400	31	15	48.4	45	12	26.7	30	13	43.3
400–499	61	44	72.1	70	54	77.1	69	47	68.1
500–599	135	118	87.4	116	99	85.3	108	89	82.4
600–699	172	155	90.1	184	159	86.4	176	156	88.6
700–799	200	187	93.5	210	190	90	196	181	92.3
800–899	235	205	87.2	245	224	91.4	212	205	96.7
900–999	285	256	89.8	263	247	93.9	239	227	95
1,000–1,099	280	256	91.4	301	263	87.4	262	216	82.4
1,100–1,199	280	237	84.6	335	314	93.7	296	264	89.2
1,200–1,299	333	299	89.8	394	349	88.6	340	314	92.4
1,300–1,399	402	353	87.8	374	318	85	401	351	87.5
1,400–1,499	456	392	86.0	494	428	86.6	452	394	87.2
Total	2,870	2,517	87.7	3,031	2,657	87.6	2,781	2,457	88.3

These data quoted from Bae and Chung

³ and The Executive Committee of Korean Neonatal Network

^8–10 with permission. Abbreviation: KNN, Korean Neonatal Network. ∗Include unregistered cases.

Table 8.

Comparison of the Number of Births and Registration Rate between the Statistics Korea and the KNN by Pregnancy Period (2014–2016)

Gestational age group (weeks)	2014			2015			2016
Gestational age group (weeks)	Statistics Korea (A)	KNN∗ (B)	B/A (%)	Statistics Korea (C)	KNN∗ (D)	C/D(%)	Statistics Korea (E)	KNN∗ (F)	E/F(%)
<22	26	10	38.5	42	8	19.0	32	7	21.9
22	35	25	71.4	43	30	69.8	45	28	62.2
23	118	96	81.4	113	90	79.6	91	75	82.4
24	169	154	91.1	156	132	84.6	169	159	94.1
25	219	207	94.5	239	235	98.3	185	175	94.6
26	273	245	89.7	267	250	93.6	229	224	97.8
27	279	263	94.3	311	294	94.5	267	246	92.1
28	353	321	90.9	404	359	88.9	354	306	86.4
29	370	314	84.9	386	354	91.7	382	344	90.1
30	320	260	81.3	347	284	81.8	310	285	91.9
31	236	228	96.6	224	192	85.7	244	217	88.9
32	169	146	86.4	158	135	85.4	164	154	93.9
33	111	96	86.5	136	124	91.2	113	91	80.5
34	101	80	79.2	104	88	84.6	95	74	77.9
35	45	40	88.9	56	53	94.6	51	43	84.3
36	34	21	61.8	27	20	74.1	33	23	69.7
≥37	12	10	83.3	18	9	50.0	17	6	35.3
Total	2,870	2,516	87.7	3,031	2,657	87.7	2,781	2,457	88.3

These data quoted from Bae and Chung

³ and The Executive Committee of Korean Neonatal Network

^8–10 with permission. Abbreviation: KNN, Korean Neonatal Network. ∗Include unregistered cases.

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