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Background:<\/strong> Children born very preterm (<32 weeks of gestation) face high risks of neurodevelopmental and health difficulties compared with children born at term. Follow-up after discharge from the neonatal intensive care unit is essential to ensure early detection and intervention, but data on policy approaches are sparse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Methods:<\/strong> We investigated the characteristics of follow-up policy and programmes in 11 European countries from 2011 to 2022 using healthcare informant questionnaires and the published\/grey literature. We further explored how one aspect of follow-up, its recommended duration, may be reflected in the percent of parents reporting that their children are receiving follow-up services at 5 years of age in these countries using data from an area-based cohort of very preterm births in 2011\/12 (N = 3635).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Results:<\/strong> Between 2011\/12 and 22, the number of countries with follow-up policies or programmes increased from 6 to 11. The policies and programmes were heterogeneous in eligibility criteria, duration and content. In countries that recommended longer follow-up, parent-reported follow-up rates at 5 years of age were higher, especially among the highest risk children, born <28 weeks’ gestation or with birthweight <1000 g: between 42.1% and 70.1%, vs. <20% in most countries without recommendations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Conclusions:<\/strong> Large variations exist in follow-up policies and programmes for children born very preterm in Europe; differences in recommended duration translate into cross-country disparities in reported follow-up at 5 years of age.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Eur J Public Health. 2024 Feb 5;34(1):91-100. doi: 10.1093<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-7563","publication","type-publication","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n