The Cost of Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The cost of Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome: an economic analysis of a national database
IRAS ID
243959
Contact name
Philippa Rees
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
GOSH UCL Institute of Child Health,
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
During pregnancy, when babies are exposed to addictive substances like heroin they may become physically dependent on them. After birth, when this exposure stops, these babies may suffer from withdrawal symptoms: collectively known as Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS). NAS includes a range of physical symptoms such as irritability, poor sleep, poor feeding, diarrhoea, vomiting, seizures (or fits), and ‘allodynia’ (feeling severe pain from usually painless stimuli like a gentle touch). Babies with NAS need close monitoring, some need weaning off the addictive substances, and they often have long and costly hospital stays.
NAS has become a massive problem in the USA: it reached epidemic proportions in 2012 and healthcare costs associated with caring for these babies have also soared. In the UK however, there have been no recent studies to determine how common a problem this is or how much it’s costing the NHS. Our study aims to determine the incidence of NAS on English neonatal units between 2012-2017, estimate the cost to the NHS of caring for these neonates, and determine which neonatal and maternal characteristics are associated with an increased risk of: severe NAS, requiring medical treatment for NAS, and long neonatal unit stays. This study will increase our understanding of NAS in the UK setting; raise awareness of this problem amongst doctors, nurses, midwives, parents and policy makers; and inform treatment strategies and preventative efforts.REC name
London - Westminster Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/LO/0665
Date of REC Opinion
23 Apr 2018
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion