Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41748748›Full record

ArticlePediatric research2026

Neonatal steroid exposure and body composition in preterm infants at discharge.

Megan K Kraemer, Tricia J Johnson, Katherine A Bell, Delaney C Mulcahy, Leah A Cerwinske, Kousiki Patra, Bradley M Appelhans, Jieun David, Mandy Brown Belfort, Quyen M Diep and 1 more

Erratum issued Registry-linked trialAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Pediatric research, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. It is linked to trial NCT07702318 (Early Childhood Neurodevelopmental, Economic and Nutritional Outcomes Among Former Very Low Birth Weight Infants From the Reducing Disparity in Mother's Own Milk), which is not on this map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT07702318 enrolling by invitationnot on this map

Early Childhood Neurodevelopmental, Economic and Nutritional Outcomes Among Former Very Low Birth Weight Infants From the Reducing Disparity in Mother's Own Milk (ReDiMOM) Trial

Typeobservational_patient_registrySponsorRush University Medical CenterRan2022 to 2027Enrolled275ConditionsPreterm
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

Megan K KraemerPediatrics, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA. megan_kraemer@rush.edu.
Tricia J JohnsonHealth Systems Management-CHS, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA.
Katherine A BellPediatrics, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
Delaney C MulcahyPediatrics, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA.
Leah A CerwinskeFood and Nutrition Services, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA.
Kousiki PatraPediatrics, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA.
Bradley M AppelhansFamily and Preventive Medicine, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA.
Jieun DavidPediatrics, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA.
Mandy Brown BelfortPediatrics, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
Quyen M DiepBiostatistics Core, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA.
Aloka L PatelPediatrics, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA.

Funding

Reducing Disparity in Receipt of Mother’s Own Milk in Very Low Birth Weight Infants: An Economic Intervention to Improve Adherence to Sustained Maternal Breast Pump UseR01MD013969 · NIMHD · RUSH UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER · PI JOHNSON, TRICIA J., PATEL, ALOKA LAHOTI · 2020 to 2024
$3.4M
Early Childhood Neurodevelopmental, Economic and Nutritional Outcomes among Former Very Low Birth Weight Infants from the Reducing Disparity in Mother's Own Milk (ReDiMOM) TrialR01HD107348 · NICHD · RUSH UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER · PI TRICIA J. JOHNSON, Aloka Lahoti Patel · 2022 to 2026
$2.7M
NICHD NIH HHS R01 HD107348NIMHD NIH HHS R01 MD013969
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundCorticosteroids are frequently used in very preterm (VPT) infants. Corticosteroids can increase adiposity and decrease lean mass, with unclear effects in VPT infants. We hypothesized that corticosteroid exposure in VPT infants would be associated with increased fat mass (FM), %FM, and decreased fat-free mass (FFM).

methodsThis prospective study included 62 infants <32 weeks' gestational age (GA) or <1500 grams birth weight (BW). Body composition was obtained using bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) at neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) discharge. We estimated FFM from BIA, calculated FM and %FM, and determined z-scores for postmenstrual age and sex. Body composition indices in steroid-exposed and non-steroid-exposed subjects were compared using Mann-Whitney U tests.

resultsThe mean GA was 28 ± 2.5 weeks, and the mean BW was 1089±401grams. Fourteen infants (22.5%) had steroid exposure, which was associated with significantly higher FM, %FM, and FFM. However, no significant differences in FM, %FM, and FFM z-scores were observed.

conclusionSteroid exposure was associated with differences in the body composition of VPT infants at NICU discharge. However, after adjusting for post-menstrual age and sex using z-scores, the difference was no longer significant, likely reflecting the longer hospitalization and later postmenstrual age at discharge in the steroid-exposed cohort. IMPACT: Corticosteroids are regularly utilized in neonatal intensive care units, and the impact of these medications on body composition in preterm neonates is unclear. Our study found no significant difference in fat mass (FM), %FM, or fat-free mass (FFM) z-scores between very preterm (VPT) infants with and without steroid exposure. Our study highlights the feasibility of using bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) to assess body composition in the NICU.

Identifiers

PMID41748748
PMCPMC13140789

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.