PEDIATRICS Vol. 75 No. 6 June 1985, pp. 993-996
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Total Population Estimate of Newborn Special-Care Bed Needs

August L. Jung MD1 and Nan Sherman Streeter RN, MS1

1 The Department of Pediatrics, University of Utah School of Medicine and Primary Children's Medical Center, Salt Lake City

In 1977, 7% of the 38,855 infants born in Utah were estimated to have required a total of 27,439 special-care hospital days. About half (53%) were mildly ill; their average length of stay was 4.6 days, or 24% of the total hospital-days. Another 20% of the infants had intermediate illness, with a 12-day average stay, or 23% of the total hospital-days. The remaining 27% of the infants required intensive care and used 53% of the total hospital-days; their average length of stay was 20 days. As a total population, the state's 38,855 births generated a need for two beds per 1,000 annual live births in special-care facilities. The estimated bed need was: mild illness (Level I), 0.5 beds per 1,000 annual live births; intermediate illness (Level II), 0.5 beds per 1,000 annual live births; and intense illness (Level III), one bed per 1,000 annual live births. Results are based on the assumption that nonstudy births, 30% of the total, have needs proportionate to study births. The following considerations are necessary to extrapolate these bed needs to other populations: (1) convalescence of intensely ill babies may require that up to 50% of their bed needs may be shifted to intermediate care; (2) compliance with criteria for transport to the next level of care may not be 100% as assumed in the study, thus redistributing bed needs; (3) census characteristically fluctuates in special-care nurseries (study results are reported for an unchanging daily census); and (4) the low birth rate of a population is intimately related to the bed needs.

Key Words: newborn intensive care • regionalization • newborn beds • low birth weight

Submitted on December 5, 1983
Accepted on July 17, 1984




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[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]