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. 2025 Sep 17:10.1038/s41372-025-02414-x.
doi: 10.1038/s41372-025-02414-x. Online ahead of print.

Prevalence, predictors, and patterns of residential mobility by the parents of preterm infants

Daria Murosko  1   2   3 , Timothy Nelin  4   5   6 , Priya Sharma  7 , Vicky Tam  7 , Elynna Volkova  8 , Kristan Scott  4   5   6 , Emily F Gregory  4   5   6 , Scott Lorch  4   5
Affiliations

Prevalence, predictors, and patterns of residential mobility by the parents of preterm infants

Daria Murosko et al. J Perinatol. .

Abstract

Objective: Describe how preterm infants experience residential mobility, or moving, before age 2 years.

Study design: This retrospective cohort study included 9267 preterm infants followed in a mid-Atlantic urban and suburban primary care network. Multivariable regression modeling identified patient and community factors associated with residential mobility, defined by a change in Census Block Group.

Results: 2494 infants (27%) moved before age 2 years; 559 (6%) moved more than once. Extreme prematurity, compared to late prematurity, was associated with increased odds of mobility (aOR 1.26, 95% CI 1.03-1.54). Governmental insurance, male sex, a positive or missing post-partum depression screen, and neighborhood deprivation were also positively associated with mobility. Among movers, 741 (30%) first relocated before 6 months of age, and mobility rates decreased with increasing chronologic age.

Conclusion: Early-life residential mobility is common among preterm infants, particularly extremely preterm infants. These findings have implications for discharge preparation among this vulnerable group.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1:
Figure 1:
Patient flow diagram
Figure 2:
Figure 2:
Infants experiencing any residential mobility, stratified by chronologic age at initial move, presented as proportion of total infants within the gestational age (GA) category.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Sankey diagram of the geographic flow of patients, between initial address (left side) and after initial move, if applicable (right side)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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