A retrospective study of all infants weighing 701 to 1,500 g born at 11
neonatal intensive care centers during 1983 and 1984 was performed to determine whether two specific 28-day outcomes, survival and survival without the need for supplemental
oxygen, varied among the centers. Survival without the need for supplemental
oxygen was chosen as a reflection of infants surviving without chronic
lung disease. There were 1,776 live-born infants delivered during the 2-year study period. Of these infants, 85% (1,512) survived 28 days, a range of 80% to 92% at the individual centers. A total of 60% (1,056) of the infants were alive without supplemental
oxygen on day 28, a range of 51% to 70% at the individual centers. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that both survival on day 28 (chi 2 = 23.9, P less than .01) and survival without supplemental
oxygen on day 28 (chi 2 = 44.2, P less than .0001) varied significantly among centers after the effects of
birth weight, gender, and race were taken into account. Female gender, nonwhite race, and increased
birth weight were factors associated with improved rates of survival and survival without supplemental
oxygen. The magnitude of outcome variation among centers was estimated by using the logistic regression models to predict what the outcomes would be if each center were to treat a standardized population consisting of all 1,776 study infants.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)