Long-term follow-up of obstetric studies

This thesis focuses on long-term child follow-up after obstetric studies. Obstetric randomized controlled clinical trials (RCTs) are performed to evaluate the effectiveness of perinatal interventions. However, most often only short-term outcomes are reported, while long-term outcomes are just as important because serious sequelae from perinatal complications frequently manifest themselves only after several years. In this thesis we aimed (1) to assess the current state of affairs concerning follow-up after obstetric RCTs, (2) to explore the possibilities for development of prediction models for different long-term child outcomes using existing cohort data and (3) to discuss the possibilities to formulate a brief guideline for long-term follow-up to facilitate future clinical trialists in their decisions on the need for long-term follow-up