Objectives: To determine the effect of implementing a 2015 policy for the screening, prevention, and management of metabolic bone disease for very low birth weight (VLBW) infants in two Level IV NICUs.
Study design: Retrospective cohort study of VLBW infants in the 2 years prior to (2013-2014) and after (2016-2017) policy implementation.
Results: We identified 316 VLBW infants in 2013-2014 and 292 in 2016-2017 who met study criteria. After policy implementation, vitamin D supplementation began earlier (20.1 ± 15.5 days vs 30.2 ± 20.1 days, p < 0.0005), the percentage of infants with alkaline phosphatase obtained increased (89.7% vs 76.3%, p < 0.0005), while the percentage of infants with alkaline phosphatase >800 IU/L (11.7 vs 4.5%, p = 0.0001) and phosphorous <4 mg/dL (14.2% vs 7.9%, p = 0.014) fell significantly.
Conclusions: After policy implementation, vitamin D supplementation began significantly earlier and the rate of detecting abnormal biochemical markers of metabolic bone disease decreased significantly.