All issues > Volume 51(3); 2008

Review Article

Korean J Pediatr. 2008;51(3):237-242. Published online March 15, 2008.

Trends in survival rate for very low birth weight infants and extremely low birth weight infants in Korea, 1967-2007

Ki-Soo KS Kim¹, Chung-Woo CW Bae²

¹Department of Pediatrics, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan, College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
²Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, Kyunghee University, Seoul, Korea

Correspondence Ki-Soo KS Kim ,Email: kskim@amc.seoul.kr

Abstract

To investigate the trends in the survival rate (SR) for very low birth weight infants (VLBW) and extremely low birth weight infants (ELBWI) in Korea, a total of 43 articles pertaining to SR were analyzed, covering the years from 1967 to 2007. The changes in SR were compared using 5 year periods. The SR for VLBWI has increased remarkably, from 31.8% in early 1960 to 65.8% in early 1990 and 78.8% in early 2000. The SR for ELBWI has increased from 8.2% in early 1960 to 37.4% in early 1990 and 62.4% in early 2000. The SR has improved steeply since early 1990. When the SRs for VLBWI in Korea were compared with those in the U.S.A. and Japan, the figures were 40%, 72%, and 79% in 1985; 65.8%, 82%, and 86% in 1990; 71.3%, 86%, and 88% in 1995; 78.8%, 86%, and 89% in 2000, respectively. Although the recent SRs for VLBWI and ELBWI in Korea has improved rapidly, they have not yet reached the levels in these highly developed countries. To obtain accurate statistics that could be represented as an SR for premature infants in Korea, we have to develop a nationwide network database project.

Keywords :Survival rate, Very low birth weight infant, Extremely low birth weight infant, Network