Among more than 93,000 newborns, females were less likely to receive vitamin K prophylaxis and hepatitis B vaccination than males.The magnitude of the association was stronger for vitamin K, which may be related to circumcision.Refusal of newborn vitamin K prophylaxis and hepatitis B vaccination rose over the course of the study.
Newborn girls were less likely to receive vitamin K prophylaxis and hepatitis B vaccination than newborn boys, according to a cohort study involving more than 93,000 babies.
Female sex was associated with non-receipt of vitamin K prophylaxis (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 2.03, 95% CI 1.74-2.35, P<0.001) and non-receipt of the hepatitis B vaccine (aOR 1.06, 95% CI 1.01-1.10, P=0.02), compared with male sex, reported Sarah Coggins, MD, MSCE, of CHOP Newborn Care at Pennsylvania Hospital, and colleagues, in JAMA Network Open.
Coggins told MedPage Today that she and her colleagues have been "trying to think of ways to address parental concerns and to identify factors associated with refusal of these important newborn care practices." They noticed that parents who wanted a circumcision for a newborn boy often accepted vitamin K prophylaxis, "even if they were previously hesitant to accept vitamin K."
