The Contribution of Low Apgar Scores in Identifying Neonates with Short-term Morbidities in a Large Single Center Cohort

Abstract

Abstract Objective To evaluate the association and utility of low 1- and 5-minute Apgar scores to identify short-term morbidities in a large newborn cohort. Methods 15,542 infants > 22 weeks gestation from a single center were included. Clinical data and low Apgar scores were analyzed for significance to 10 short-term outcomes and were used to construct Receiver Operating Characteristic Curves and the area under the curve (AUC) calculated for 10 outcomes. Results A low Apgar score related to all (1-minute) or most (5-minute) outcomes by univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis. Including any of the 4 low Apgar scores only improved the clinical factor AUC by 0.9% ± 2.7% (± SD) and was significant in just 5 of the 40 score/outcome scenarios. Conclusion The contribution of a low Apgar score for identifying risk of short-term morbidity does not appear to be clinically significant.