The VICS aims to better understand the long-term health outcomes of extremely preterm (EP; before 28 weeks of pregnancy) or extremely low birth weight (ELBW; <1000 g) babies born in Victoria, Australia. VICS includes several cohorts recruited in distinct birth eras (from 1979-80 to the most recent 2023 cohort). The VICS 1991-1992 cohort includes almost 300 EP/ELBW infants born in Victoria between 1991 and 1992, and over 200 term-born infants. Perinatal data were collected, and participants were followed up at ages 2, 5, 8, 18, and 25 years, with plans to follow participants into their mid-30s.
Study design
Cohort, Cohort - birth
Number of participants at first data collection
297 (EP/ELBW participants)
262 (term-born control participants)
Age at first data collection
Birth (EP/ELBW participants)
Birth (term-born control participants)
Participant year of birth
1991 - 1992 (EP/ELBW participants)
1991 - 1992 (term-born control participants)
Participant sex
All
Representative sample at baseline?
No
Sample features
Country
Year of first data collection
1991
Primary Institutions
Joan Kirner Women’s and Children’s Hospital
Mercy Hospital for Women
Monash Medical Centre
Royal Children's Hospital (RCH)
Royal Women’s Hospital
Profile paper DOI
Funders
Department of Human Services and Health
National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)
Royal Women's Hospital
Victorian Government
Ongoing?
Yes
Data types collected


Engagement
Keywords
Consortia and dataset groups