JAMA

PAS 2025: Extended caffeine treatment doesn’t shorten hospitalization in preterm infants

May 1, 2025

Extending caffeine treatment in moderately preterm infants didn’t reduce duration of hospitalization compared with placebo. The findings were presented at the recent Pediatric Academic Societies annual meeting.

Study details: The MoCHA trial, conducted from February 2019 to December 2022 across 29 U.S. hospitals, enrolled 827 preterm infants (29-33 weeks' gestation) who were receiving caffeine treatment for apnea of prematurity at 33 to 35 weeks' postmenstrual age. Infants were randomized to receive either oral caffeine citrate (10 mg/kg/day) or placebo until 28 days post-discharge.

Results: The primary outcome, days to discharge after randomization, didn’t differ between the caffeine and placebo groups (18 days vs. 16.5 days; adjusted median difference, 0 days; 95% confidence interval [CI] -1.7 to 1.7). Secondary outcomes, including days to physiological maturity, postmenstrual age at discharge, and rates of readmissions and sick visits, also showed no significant differences. Infants receiving caffeine were apnea-free sooner (6 vs. 10 days; adjusted median difference, -2.7 days; 95% CI, -3.4 to -2.0), but had similar days to full oral feeding (7.5 vs 6 days, adjusted median difference, 0 days [95% CI, -0.1 to 0.1]).

Source:

Carlo WA, et al; Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Neonatal Research Network. (2025, April 28). JAMA. Extended Caffeine for Apnea in Moderately Preterm Infants: The MoCHA Randomized Clinical Trial. http://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40294395/