A new study to determine if it’s safe for children who were born preterm to attend day care officially commenced this month.
Children born preterm are seven times more likely to be hospitalised within the first year of life with respiratory infections when compared with babies born at term.
As day care is associated with increased risks of acquiring these respiratory infections, one of the most frequently asked questions by parents of children born preterm is whether it is safe to attend day care.
The aim of the Kids INfections and Day care’s Effects on the lungs in those born Early (KINDEE) study is to improve lung health outcomes in children born preterm by better understanding the impact that respiratory infections and day care attendance have on their lung health during later childhood.
The KINDEE study is a follow-up study of children (aged 6-9 years) who took part in the PIFCO (Preterm Infant Functional and Clinical Outcome Study) study as babies. These babies were recruited shortly after birth at King Edward Memorial Hospital between 2013-17.
As part of this initial study, detailed information was collected about the babies’ time in the neonatal intensive care unit, and they underwent clinical assessments including infant lung function. A subset or the participants were also enrolled in a 12-month viral surveillance program collecting monthly nasal swabs, detailed questionnaires about symptoms and respiratory hospitalisations.
Participants in the KINDEE study, like Sebastian (pictured), will perform lung function tests and provide biological samples to researchers. Parents will also complete a questionnaire about their child’s lung health, Quality of Life (QoL) and can participate in a QoL sub-study via an interview.
The study’s lead investigators A/Prof Shannon Simpson and Dr James Gibbons, who work with the Wal-yan Respiratory Research Centre, said the overall aim is to determine which factors lead to poorer lung health outcomes in premature babies.
“This study will help us to determine the impact that early life viral infections have on the lung health of those born preterm, as well as being able to answer many parents’ questions about whether children born preterm are safe to attend day care,” A/Prof Simpson said.
The KINDEE study is supported by Research Excellence Awards funding, and a WA Child Research Fund (WACRF) grant. The Research Excellence Awards is a program of the Future Health Research and Innovation Fund, which is a secure funding source to drive health and medical research and help develop innovation and commercialisation in WA. The WA Child Research Fund was established by the Department of Health and the Channel 7 Telethon Trust to provide financial support to research projects that focus on the health of children and adolescents in WA.
The Children's Lung Health Team at the Wal-yan Respiratory Research Centre – a powerhouse partnership between The Kids Research Institute Australia, Perth Children’s Hospital Foundation and Perth Children’s Hospital - investigates lung growth and development through infancy, childhood, adolescence and early adulthood, in health and in chronic lung disease, and the impact of preterm birth on lung health outcomes.
Learn more about the Children’s Lung Health team here