Frequency of resource limitations in newborn intensive care: mechanical ventilation and surfactant administration
| Level | P value* | Administration | P value* | Region | P value* | |||||
| I/II | III/IV | Public | Private | City | Provincial | District | ||||
| Frequency of situations where all mechanical ventilators are in use and at least one other infant needs mechanical ventilation† | ||||||||||
| Never/rarely | 5 (15) | 17 (26) | 0.04 | 2 (6) | 21 (30) | <0.001 | 22 (28) | 1 (5.9) | 0 | 0.003 |
| Some of the time | 15 (44) | 13 (20) | 3 (9) | 26 (38) | 26 (33) | 1 (5.9) | 2 (40) | |||
| Often/almost always | 14 (41) | 35 (54) | 28 (85) | 22 (32) | 32 (40) | 15 (88.2) | 3 (60) | |||
| Availability of surfactant for preterm infants with respiratory distress† | ||||||||||
| Never | 3 (9) | 5 (8) | 0.02 | 6 (19) | 2 (3) | 0.06 | 3 (4) | 4 (27) | 1 (20) | 0.02 |
| Some of the time | 6 (18) | 6 (10) | 3 (10) | 10 (15) | 12 (15) | 1 (7) | 0 | |||
| Only if parents are able to pay‡ | 19 (56) | 21 (34) | 13 (42) | 29 (43) | 32 (41) | 6 (40.0) | 4 (80) | |||
| Always | 6 (18) | 30 (48) | 9 (29) | 27 (40) | 32 (41) | 4 (27) | 0 | |||
*Fisher’s exact test. P values represent differences in overall distribution of responses between different hospitals types.
†Rarely=less than once per year, some of the time=more than once per year but less than once per month, often=more than once per month but less than once per week and almost always=more than once per week.
‡This option included situations where the parents are able to find a charity to cover the costs of care.