Survival status and predictors of neonatal mortality among neonates admitted to Neonatal Intensive care Unit (NICU) of Wollega University referral hospital (WURH) and Nekemte Specialized hospital, Western Ethiopia: A prospective cohort study

Abstract

Background The neonatal period is the most vulnerable time for survival in which children face the highest risk of dying in their lives. Neonatal mortality (NM) remains a global public concern, especially in sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. Although, better progress has been made in reducing NM before 2016, Ethiopia is currently one of the top ten countries affected by NM. Studies are limited to secondary data extraction in Ethiopia which focus only on survival status during admission, and no study has been conducted in the study area in particular. Objective To assess the survival status and predictors of neonatal mortality among neonates admitted to the NICU of WURH and Nekemte Specialized Hospital, Western Ethiopia. Methods An institution-based prospective cohort study was conducted among a cohort of 412 neonates admitted to the NICU of WURH and Nekemte Specialized Hospital from September 1, 2020 to December 30, 2020. All neonates consecutively admitted to the NICU of the two hospitals during the study period were included in the study. Data entry was performed using Epidata version 3.0 and the analysis was performed using STATA version 14. A Kaplan Meier survival curve was constructed to estimate the cumulative survival probability. A cox proportional hazards regression model was used to identify the predictors of NM. Hazard Ratios with 95% CI were computed and all the predictors associated with the outcome variable at p-value ≤ 0.05 in the multivariable cox proportional hazards analysis were declared as a significant predictor of NM. Results A total of 412 neonates were followed for a median of 27 days with an IQR of 22–28 days. During the follow-up period, a total of 9249 person day observations (PDO) were detected. At the end of follow-up, 15.3% of neonates died with an overall incidence rate of death 6.81/1000 PDO. The median time to death was 10 days, and the highest incidence rate of death was observed during the first week of the neonatal period. The study found that rural residence (AHR = 2.04, 95%CI: 1.14, 3.66), lack of ANC visits (AHR = 7.77, 95%CI: 3.99, 15.11), neonatal hypothermia (AHR = 3.04, 95%CI: 1.36, 6.80), and delayed initiation of breastfeeding (AHR = 2.26, 95% CI: 1.12, 4.56) as independent predictors of NM. However, a decreased number of pregnancies decrease the risk of NM. Conclusions and recommendations The incidence rate of neonatal death was high particularly in the first week of life in the study area. The study found that lack of ANC visit, neonatal hypothermia, increased number of pregnancies, rural residence, and delayed initiation of breastfeeding positively predicted NM. Therefore, there is a need to encourage programs that enhance ANC visits for pregnant mothers and community-based neonatal survival strategies, particularly for countryside mothers.

Time to death and its determinants among neonates admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of Woldia Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Amhara region, northeast Ethiopia: A five-year retrospective study

“…Among the admitted neonates, 312 (51.66%) were female, indicating the predominant presence of female neonates in the study population. This finding is consistent with similar studies conducted in Nekemte Specialized Hospital in Western Ethiopia (54.8%) (20), Southern Ethiopia (51.4%) (36) Nigeria (50.9%) (37).…”

“…These findings are consistent with a similar investigation, which also reported a high occurrence of death during the first week of life. Furthermore, a prior study conducted in Ethiopia (50) found that the highest incidence rate of death occurred in the first week, with a rate of 11.28 per 1000 neonate days of observation (20).…”

“…Different studies revealed that the median time to death was 10 days (95%CI: 5, 19) with an overall incidence rate of death 6.81 per 1000 person-days observations (20). The cumulative proportion of surviving at the end of the 1 st , 7 th , 14 th and 21 st day were 96.1%, 75%, 69.9%, and 66.2% respectively (21).…”

Survival and causes of death in infants admitted in NICU in Tehran (a retrospective cohort study 2016-2022)

“…Despite the great steps to improve neonatal outcomes, neonatal mortality is still one of the public health concerns worldwide [1][2][3][4] .…”

“…Globally, an average rate of 17 deaths per 1,000 live births was reported and 2.4 million mortalities were recorded in the rst month of life in 2019 3 . Most neonatal deaths occur during the early neonatal period (within the rst 7 days after birth) and more than one-third of all neonatal deaths occur on the rst day of born.…”