Opioid use and long-term health in hospitalized infants

The Impact of Opioids on Health Outcomes for Hospitalized Infants

NIH-funded research Children's Hospital of Los Angeles · NIH-11283969

This project looks at whether how much and what types of opioids hospitalized infants receive relate to their brain development and later healthcare needs.

Quick facts

Grant typeR01 grant
Study typeNIH-funded research
Funding institutionChildren's Hospital of Los Angeles NIH-funded
Lab location1 site (Los Angeles, United States)
Project IDNIH-11283969 on NIH RePORTER

What this research studies

If your baby was hospitalized as a newborn or infant, researchers will link hospital records with a California follow-up database to build a large combined dataset. They will measure cumulative opioid dosing and types of opioid medicines given in the hospital and compare those exposures to later neurodevelopmental outcomes and healthcare use. By pooling data from many hospitals, the team aims to identify patterns in opioid prescribing that relate to developmental problems or higher future health costs. This is a retrospective study using existing records to find associations between past opioid exposure and long-term outcomes.

Who could benefit from this research

Good fit: The focus is on critically ill infants hospitalized in neonatal or pediatric units whose records are included in the Pediatric Health Information System or the California Perinatal Quality Care Collaborative and who have linked long-term outcome data.

Not a fit: Babies who were never hospitalized, whose medical records are not in the included databases, or who lack linked follow-up data would not be included and would not directly benefit from this analysis.

Why it matters

Potential benefit: Results could help doctors choose safer pain treatments for hospitalized infants to lower the risk of developmental issues and reduce future healthcare needs.

How similar studies have performed: Some smaller single-center and observational studies have suggested links between neonatal opioid exposure and later problems, but large multicenter linked datasets like this are relatively new.

Where this research is happening

Los Angeles, United States

Researchers

About this research

  1. This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
  2. Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
  3. For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.
Conditions Acquired brain injury
Last reviewed 2026-06-13 by the Find a Trial editorial team. Information on this page is for educational purposes and is not medical advice. Always consult qualified healthcare professionals about clinical trial participation.