Study design (if review, criteria of inclusion for studies)
observational, cross-sectional design
Participants
In 2002, two populations (1 to 9 years of age) who presented (excluding meconium ileus) by NBS < or = 3 months of age or by CD were compared. NBS and CD populations (184 and 950 patients, respectively) were divided into 3-year age groups (1 to 3, 4 to 6, and 7 to 9 years).
Interventions
newborn screening (NBS) for cystic fibrosis (CF)
Outcome measures
therapies not explained by age, genotype, geography, social deprivation, intravenous antibiotics.
Main results
NBS patients < or = 6 years of age received significantly fewer and less demanding therapies not explained by age, genotype, geography, or social deprivation. In 7- to 9-year-olds, significantly fewer NBS patients received intravenous antibiotics. NBS patients without P aeruginosa infection received significantly fewer therapies, but no differences were found between intermittently or chronically infected NBS and CD populations. Comparable results were found in deltaF508/deltaF508 subpopulations.
Authors' conclusions
CF populations diagnosed by NBS are associated with reduced treatment compared with age- and genotype-matched CD control subjects.