Congenital Anomalies and Associated Factors among Newborns in Bishoftu General Hospital, Oromia, Ethiopia: A Retrospective Study

BACKGROUND: Congenital anomalies affect millions of babies worldwide with prevalence of 3%, and it is estimated that, globally, 303,000 newborns die within the first 4 weeks of life due to this problem. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess congenital anomalies and their associated factors among newborns in Bishoftu General Hospital, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia. Setting. Bishoftu General Hospital, Oromia, Ethiopia. Study Design . A retrospective cross-sectional study was employed. Participants. All birth records from September 14, 2018, to March 14, 2019, were reviewed. A census method was applied for this study. The data were collected from birth registration books through structured checklist. We used Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 24.0 for data analysis. Crude and adjusted odds ratio with 95% confidence interval was computed. Statistical significance was set at P < 0.05. RESULT: Out of 2,218 live births, 23 newborns were diagnosed with congenital malformations, making the prevalence rate of 1% (i.e., 10/1000 live births in the specified time period). Maternal age above 35 years (AOR = 6.5; 95% CI = 2.4–18), birth order above 3 (AOR = 8.4; 95% CI = 3.4–20.7), birth weight less than 2.5 kg (AOR = 0.3; 95% CI = 0.1–0.9), and singleton pregnancy (AOR = 6.4; 95% CI = 2–18.9) had a significant association with the incident of congenital anomalies, while iron folate use before and/or during early pregnancy and urban residence (AOR = 0.3; 95% CI = 0.1–1) had a protective effect against congenital anomalies (AOR = 0.036; 95% CI = 0.008–0.15). CONCLUSION: The findings of this study showed that there is a burden of congenital anomalies in the study area. Sustainable surveillance and registry systems are thus required for intervention programs and it is crucial to include them under Ethiopian demographic health survey (EDHS) report.