Nine is the New Ten of Apgar Scores: An Observational Retrospective Cohort Study

Selin S Everett; Miles Bomback; Phil Roth; Nimrod Goldshtrom; Richard A Polin; Alex Lyford; Thomas Hays

doi:10.1016/j.jpeds.2024.114150

Nine is the New Ten of Apgar Scores: An Observational Retrospective Cohort Study

J Pediatr. 2024 Oct:273:114150. doi: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2024.114150. Epub 2024 Jun 15.

Authors

Selin S Everett¹, Miles Bomback², Phil Roth³, Nimrod Goldshtrom⁴, Richard A Polin⁴, Alex Lyford⁵, Thomas Hays⁶

Affiliations

¹ Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Washington Medical Center, Seattle, WA.
² Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL.
³ CrowdStrike, Austin, TX.
⁴ Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York City, NY.
⁵ Department of Statistics, Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT.
⁶ Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York City, NY. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 38880381
PMCID: PMC11415285 (available on 2025-10-01)
DOI: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2024.114150

Abstract

Apgar scores of 10 were once common but are now rare. We aggregated scores from US term infants from 1978 to 2021. We found that scores of 10 decreased by logarithmic decay independent of demographic changes. We hypothesize that this trend was driven by improved appreciation of transitional physiology.

Keywords: Apgar score; neonatology; transitional physiology.

Publication types

Observational Study

MeSH terms

Apgar Score*
Female
Humans
Infant, Newborn
Male
Retrospective Studies
United States

Grants and funding

K23 HD113827/HD/NICHD NIH HHS/United States