Survival status and predictors of mortality among preterm neonates admitted to neonatal intensive care unit of Addis Ababa public hospitals, Ethiopia, 2021. A prospective cohort study

BACKGROUND: Preterm related complications are the single largest direct cause of neonatal deaths throughout the world, responsible for 35% of the world’s neonatal death (1.1 million deaths/year). In Ethiopia preterm related complications are still the leading cause of neonatal mortality. Identifying the hazard time to death and predictors of mortality play an important role to decrease preterm mortality. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the survival and predictors of mortality among preterm neonates admitted to neonatal intensive care unit of Addis Ababa public hospitals, Ethiopia, 2021. METHOD: An institutional based prospective follow up study was conducted among 358 preterm neonates admitted to selected public hospitals of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from February 12 to May 12, 2021. Systematic random sampling was used to recruit each sample and data was collected prospectively using structured questioner. Epi-data version 4.6 and STATA version 16 was used to data entry and analysis respectively. Kaplan Meier failure curve, Log rank tests were computed. Schoenfeld residual test was used to check overall model fitness. Cox proportional hazards models were fitted to identify independent predictors of preterm mortality. RESULT: At the end of this cohort, 125(34.9%) of the neonates died, with incidence rate of 36.4/1000 (CI: 0.031–0.044) person-day with the median time to death of 6 days. Born from antepartum hemorrhage mother (AHR: 3.1, CI; 1.4–6.6), lack of Kangaroo mother care (AHR: 5.8, CI; 2.37–14.33), unable to start feeding with in 24 h of admission (AHR: 6.4, CI: 3.33–12.28), apnea (AHR: 2.4, CI: 1.3–4.7) and dehydration (AHR: 2.33, CI: 1.3–4.3) were the identified predictors of time to death. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION: The first 7 days of admission was the hazard time to death with median time of 6 days. Being born to antepartum hemorrhage mother, lack of Kangaroo mother care, unable to start feeding with 24-h, Apnea and dehydration were the predictors of time to death. Therefore, intervention that focuses on the identified predictors could have a paramount effect to prolong time to death and reduce preterm mortality. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12887-022-03176-7.