ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Pediatr.
Sec. Neonatology
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fped.2025.1414127
PREDICTORS OF PRETERM NEONATAL MORTALITY IN THE NEONATAL INTENSIVE CARE UNIT OF TERTIARY LEVEL MEDICAL INSTITUTION IN ETHIOPIA
Provisionally accepted
- 1Faculty of Health Sciences, Hawassa University, Hawassa, Ethiopia
- 2Yirgalem Hospital Medical College, Yirgalem, Ethiopia
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Background: Premature death is a serious health concern in developing countries, including Ethiopia.Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted in Hawassa University Comprehensive Specialized Hospital from May 9, 2019 to April 22, 2021. A total of 723 preterm neonates were considered for this study. The Kaplan-Meier survival curve was used to calculate the survival rate. The Cox proportional hazard ratio was used to evaluate the relationship between dependent and independent variables. The 95% confidence level was used to check for significance.Results: Preterm neonatal mortality accounts for 33.3% of neonatal admissions. Early neonatal sepsis (AHR = 1.34; 95% CI: 1.003, 1.79), a 5-minute Apgar score of less than 7 (AHR = 1.73; 95% CI: 1.17, 2.55), perinatal asphyxia (AHR = 2.25; 95% CI: 1.67, 3.02), and recent multiple pregnancies (AHR = 1.66; 95% CI: 1.22, 2.26) were predictors of preterm neonatal mortality.Early breastfeeding, prevention and early treatment of perinatal hypoxia and neonatal infections, identification, and monitoring multiple pregnancies could help to enhance the outcome.
Keywords: Preterm neonatal mortality, Sidama, Ethiopia, Hawassa, Hawassa University
Received: 08 Apr 2024; Accepted: 26 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Feleke and Kaweti. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Tihun Feleke, Faculty of Health Sciences, Hawassa University, Hawassa, Ethiopia
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