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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2020 Dec 24;383(26):2514-2525.
doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2022398. Epub 2020 Oct 23.

Antenatal Dexamethasone for Early Preterm Birth in Low-Resource Countries

WHO ACTION Trials CollaboratorsOlufemi T Oladapo  1 Joshua P Vogel  1 Gilda Piaggio  1 My-Huong Nguyen  1 Fernando Althabe  1 A Metin Gülmezoglu  1 Rajiv Bahl  1 Suman P N Rao  1 Ayesha De Costa  1 Shuchita Gupta  1 Abdullah H Baqui  1 Rasheda Khanam  1 Mohammod Shahidullah  1 Saleha B Chowdhury  1 Salahuddin Ahmed  1 Nazma Begum  1 Arunangshu D Roy  1 M A Shahed  1 Iffat A Jaben  1 Farida Yasmin  1 M Mozibur Rahman  1 Anjuman Ara  1 Soofia Khatoon  1 Gulshan Ara  1 Shaheen Akter  1 Nasreen Akhter  1 Probhat R Dey  1 M Abdus Sabur  1 Mohammad T Azad  1 Shahana F Choudhury  1 M A Matin  1 Shivaprasad S Goudar  1 Sangappa M Dhaded  1 Mrityunjay C Metgud  1 Yeshita V Pujar  1 Manjunath S Somannavar  1 Sunil S Vernekar  1 Veena R Herekar  1 Shailaja R Bidri  1 Sangamesh S Mathapati  1 Preeti G Patil  1 Mallanagouda M Patil  1 Muttappa R Gudadinni  1 Hidaytullah R Bijapure  1 Ashalata A Mallapur  1 Geetanjali M Katageri  1 Sumangala B Chikkamath  1 Bhuvaneshwari C Yelamali  1 Ramesh R Pol  1 Sujata S Misra  1 Leena Das  1 Saumya Nanda  1 Rashmita B Nayak  1 Bipsa Singh  1 Zahida Qureshi  1 Fredrick Were  1 Alfred Osoti  1 George Gwako  1 Ahmed Laving  1 John Kinuthia  1 Hafsa Mohamed  1 Nawal Aliyan  1 Adelaide Barassa  1 Elizabeth Kibaru  1 Margaret Mbuga  1 Lydia Thuranira  1 Njoroge J Githua  1 Bernadine Lusweti  1 Adejumoke I Ayede  1 Adegoke G Falade  1 Olubukola A Adesina  1 Atinuke M Agunloye  1 Oluwatosin O Iyiola  1 Wilfred Sanni  1 Ifeyinwa K Ejinkeonye  1 Hadiza A Idris  1 Chinyere V Okoli  1 Theresa A Irinyenikan  1 Omolayo A Olubosede  1 Olaseinde Bello  1 Olufemi M Omololu  1 Olanike A Olutekunbi  1 Adesina L Akintan  1 Olorunfemi O Owa  1 Rosena O Oluwafemi  1 Ireti P Eniowo  1 Adetokunbo O Fabamwo  1 Elizabeth A Disu  1 Joy O Agbara  1 Ebunoluwa A Adejuyigbe  1 Oluwafemi Kuti  1 Henry C Anyabolu  1 Ibraheem O Awowole  1 Akintunde O Fehintola  1 Bankole P Kuti  1 Anthony D Isah  1 Eyinade K Olateju  1 Olusanya Abiodun  1 Olabisi F Dedeke  1 Francis B Akinkunmi  1 Lawal Oyeneyin  1 Omotayo Adesiyun  1 Hadijat O Raji  1 Adedapo B A Ande  1 Ikechukwu Okonkwo  1 Shabina Ariff  1 Sajid B Soofi  1 Lumaan Sheikh  1 Saima Zulfiqar  1 Sadia Omer  1 Raheel Sikandar  1 Salma Sheikh  1 Daniel Giordano  1 Hugo Gamerro  1 Guillermo Carroli  1 Jose Carvalho  1 James Neilson  1 Elizabeth Molyneux  1 Khalid Yunis  1 Kidza Mugerwa  1 Harish K Chellani  1
Collaborators, Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Antenatal Dexamethasone for Early Preterm Birth in Low-Resource Countries

WHO ACTION Trials Collaborators et al. N Engl J Med. .

Abstract

Background: The safety and efficacy of antenatal glucocorticoids in women in low-resource countries who are at risk for preterm birth are uncertain.

Methods: We conducted a multicountry, randomized trial involving pregnant women between 26 weeks 0 days and 33 weeks 6 days of gestation who were at risk for preterm birth. The participants were assigned to intramuscular dexamethasone or identical placebo. The primary outcomes were neonatal death alone, stillbirth or neonatal death, and possible maternal bacterial infection; neonatal death alone and stillbirth or neonatal death were evaluated with superiority analyses, and possible maternal bacterial infection was evaluated with a noninferiority analysis with the use of a prespecified margin of 1.25 on the relative scale.

Results: A total of 2852 women (and their 3070 fetuses) from 29 secondary- and tertiary-level hospitals across Bangladesh, India, Kenya, Nigeria, and Pakistan underwent randomization. The trial was stopped for benefit at the second interim analysis. Neonatal death occurred in 278 of 1417 infants (19.6%) in the dexamethasone group and in 331 of 1406 infants (23.5%) in the placebo group (relative risk, 0.84; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.72 to 0.97; P = 0.03). Stillbirth or neonatal death occurred in 393 of 1532 fetuses and infants (25.7%) and in 444 of 1519 fetuses and infants (29.2%), respectively (relative risk, 0.88; 95% CI, 0.78 to 0.99; P = 0.04); the incidence of possible maternal bacterial infection was 4.8% and 6.3%, respectively (relative risk, 0.76; 95% CI, 0.56 to 1.03). There was no significant between-group difference in the incidence of adverse events.

Conclusions: Among women in low-resource countries who were at risk for early preterm birth, the use of dexamethasone resulted in significantly lower risks of neonatal death alone and stillbirth or neonatal death than the use of placebo, without an increase in the incidence of possible maternal bacterial infection. (Funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the World Health Organization; Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry number, ACTRN12617000476336; Clinical Trials Registry-India number, CTRI/2017/04/008326.).

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Screening, enrolment, randomization, and follow-up
Figure 2
Figure 2
Neonatal primary outcomes by subgroups

Comment in

References

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