Determinants of birth asphyxia among preterm newborns in Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies protocol

BACKGROUND: Birth asphyxia accounted for nearly 50% of neonatal mortality in Sub-Saharan African countries. This scenario has been worst in Ethiopia where every two out of three deaths attributed to birth asphyxia. Moreover, studies conducted in Ethiopia were highly variable and inconclusive to estimate the pooled prevalence and determinants of perinatal birth asphyxia among preterm babies. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to estimate the pooled prevalence of birth asphyxia and its determinants among preterm newborns in Ethiopia. METHODS: The protocol for this review is registered at PROSPERO with registration number CRD42020158224. A comprehensive online databases (PubMed, HINARI, Scopus, EMBASE, Science direct, and Cochrane library database), Google Scholar, African Journals online, other gray and online repository accessed studies will be searched using different search engines. In addition, maternity and infant care databases uploaded at Ethiopian Health Development Journal and Ethiopian Journal of Health Sciences will be searched until 30 June 2020. Newcastle-Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale (NOS) will be used for critical appraisal of studies. Three reviewers will screen all retrieved articles, conduct data extraction, and then critically appraise all identified studies. All identified observational studies reporting the prevalence of birth asphyxia and associated factors among neonates in Ethiopia will be considered. The analysis of data will be done using STATA 11.0. We will demonstrate pooled estimates and determinants of birth asphyxia with effect size and 95% confidence interval. Heterogeneity among the included studies will be assessed through the Cochrane Q test statistics and I(2) test. Publication bias will be checked using funnel plot and Egger’s test. Finally, statistical significance level will be declared at a p value of less than 0.05. DISCUSSION: The result from this systematic review will inform and guide health policy planners to invest limited resources on maternal and neonatal health. Furthermore, it will be a stimulus for future cumulative meta-analysis researchers in developing nations. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13643-022-01905-8.