Most babies admitted to the NICU are premature (born before 37 weeks of pregnancy), have low birth weight (less than 5.5 pounds), or have a medical condition that requires special care.
Independent variable. An independent variable is used in statistics to predict or explain a dependent variable. For example, Age and Gender might be used as independent variables to predict the age of death or life expectancy (dependent variables). In experimental designs, the independent variables are manipulated by the researcher (e.g., different dosages of a drug).
Independent and dependent variables are related to one another. The Independent part is what you, the experimenter, changes or enacts in order to do your experiment. The dependent variable is what changes when the independent variable changes - the dependent variable depends on the outcome of the independent variable.