Healthcare utilisation among mothers of newborns with invasive group B <i>Streptococcus</i> disease: a 20-year national cohort study.

Abstract

Long-term healthcare utilisation (HCU) among mothers of infants with neonatal, invasive group B <i>Streptococcus</i> disease (iGBS) remains understudied; identifying these patterns could provide better support for affected families and address the iGBS public health burden. Cohort study. Population of Denmark. 1565 mothers of infants with iGBS and 44 976 matched comparators from 1997 through 2021, with follow-up until 2022, using national health and social registry data. HCU including primary, inpatient, outpatient, psychiatric and surgical care was evaluated as period prevalence ratio (PPR) and rate ratios compared across three time periods (0-6 years, 7-13 years and 14-20 years) using a modified Poisson regression model and negative binomial regression with 95% CIs. Mothers of newborns with iGBS had higher PPRs of psychiatric care contacts in the first 0-6 years and 14-20 years following iGBS compared with the comparison cohort (RR_0-61.12 (95% CI 0.93 to 1.35), RR_14-201.24 (95% CI 0.97 to 1.58)). Exposed mothers had similar PPRs of primary, inpatient and outpatient care use as comparators, except for a slightly higher inpatient care use 7-13 years following iGBS. Exposed mothers had higher RRs for primary, inpatient, outpatient and psychiatric care contacts than mothers in the comparison cohort. Mothers of iGBS-exposed infants had elevated psychiatric healthcare use and increased primary, and outpatient care visits compared with matched comparators, suggesting heightened healthcare needs and psychosocial burden of caregiving up to 20 years post-iGBS.