Characteristics and causes of death in children with neonatal abstinence syndrome.
AIM
To determine characteristics of death in children with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS).


METHODS
A population-based linkage study of children from birth to 13 years of age in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, born 1 July 2000 to 31 December 2011. Infants with an International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Problems, Australian modification coding of NAS (P96.1, n = 3842) were compared to infants (n = 1 018 421) without NAS by birth, hospitalisation and death records linkage.


RESULTS
Forty-five (1.2%) children with NAS died, compared to 3665 (0.4%) other children. Most deaths (n = 30, 66%) in NAS children occurred between 1 month and 1 year. Risk of death was independently increased in full-term children (hazard ratio 2.34, 95% confidence interval 1.63-3.35; P < 0.001) from lower socio-economic groups (1.23, 1.12-1.35; P < 0.001), most commonly from ill-defined or external causes, including assault and accidents (P < 0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
Children with NAS, especially those of term gestation and from lower socio-economic groups, are more likely to die, especially from external causes.
['Uebel|Hannah|H|https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9311-4434', 'Wright|Ian M|IM|', 'Burns|Lucinda|L|', 'Hilder|Lisa|L|', 'Bajuk|Barbara|B|', 'Breen|Courtney|C|', 'Abdel-Latif|Mohamed E|ME|https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4306-2933', 'Falconer|Janet|J|', 'Clews|Sarah|S|', 'Ward|Meredith|M|', 'Eastwood|John|J|', 'Oei|Ju Lee|JL|https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7799-3771']
D001315:Australia D002423:Cause of Death D002648:Child D006760:Hospitalization D006801:Humans D007223:Infant D007231:Infant, Newborn D009357:Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome D009517:New South Wales D012189:Retrospective Studies
neonatal abstinence syndrome linkage childhood mortality