Neonatal mortality and causes of death in Kersa Health and Demographic Surveillance System (Kersa HDSS), Ethiopia, 2008–2013

Abstract

BackgroundIn the world, Neonatal mortality accounts for 40 % of death of children under the age of 5 years. Majority of neonatal deaths occur in developing countries outside of formal health system, among which death in the first hour of first day of their life constitute the huge bulk. This analysis is intended to estimate neonatal mortality rates and identify the leading causes of death based on the surveillance data over 6 years period in Kersa health and demographic surveillance system (Kersa HDSS) site, Eastern Ethiopia.MethodsKersa HDSS is an open dynamic cohort of population established in 2007. The surveillance started after conducting a baseline census followed by population update and events registration on house-to-house visits every 6 months. Data were collected using verbal autopsy (VA) questionnaire from close relatives (usually mothers in this case) and causes of deaths were assigned by 2 to 3 physicians. This analysis was done based on 301 neonatal deaths and 10,934 live births occurred during 2008 to 2013.ResultsThe overall neonatal death rate during the study period was 27.5 per 1000 live births. Nearly all neonatal deaths (94 %) occurred at home. More than four-fifth (82.4 %) of the deaths was occurred in the first week of life. More than 80 % of the deaths were due to perinatal causes. Bacterial sepsis of the newborn accounted for 31.2 % followed by birth asphyxia and perinatal respiratory disorder (28.2 %), and prematurity (17.3 %). Higher number of death was observed in Tolla and Bereka sub-districts located at the southern parts of the study site which are away from the main road network.ConclusionThe overall neonatal mortality over 6 years is the same to the national average (27 per 1000 live births). The leading causes of neonatal death were bacterial sepsis of newborn and birth asphyxia. Community-based skilled health care delivery during birth should be emphasized.

When Do Newborns Die? Timing and Cause-Specific Neonatal Death in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Referral Hospital in Gedeo Zone: A Prospective Cohort Study

“…In the present study, 11.6% of neonates died during followup. We found that most of the deaths occurred during the first (34.0%) and second (61.3%) weeks of neonatal life, which were in line with the previous systematic review studies [7,8] and the studies done in India [32] and Tanzania [33] and also the studies done in Ethiopia [10,[22][23][24].…”

“…In the study, low birth weight (38.8%) and jaundices (42.9) were the leading causes of death during the early neonatal period, whereas birth asphyxia (72.5%), neonatal sepsis (64.3), and LBW (61.2%) were during late neonatal life in agreement with previous studies [6-8, 32, 33] and the studies done in Ethiopia [22][23][24]. Therefore, this finding indicates that improving the survival of LBW neonates is a particular challenge in the study area, similar to other countries [4,18,25,34].…”

“…Neonatal sepsis and LBW were the leading causes of neonatal deaths in the study. Similar trends were observed in many other countries including Ethiopia [1,10,18,[20][21][22][23][24]. This higher mortality related to sepsis and LBW may be associated with poor obstetric care practice during labour and at the time of birth and poor quality special care for sick and small newborns.…”

“…In other evidence from Africa, Asia [18], India [19,20], and Ethiopia [21], prematurity, neonatal infections, and birth asphyxia were the main causes of deaths. The causes of neonatal death vary among different socioeconomic strata and geographic regions in Ethiopia [22][23][24][25].…”

Neonatal Mortality and Its Determinates in Public Hospitals of Gamo and Gofa Zones, Southern Ethiopia: Prospective Follow up Study

“…Analysis of different studies in Ethiopia showed that the incidence of the neonatal mortality rate was ranged from 17.2 to 35.5 per 1000 live births [10][11][12][13][14][15]. The most determinate factors which were identified by previous studies were birth order, frequency of antenatal care, delivery place, twin delivery and size of neonate [10,16,17].…”