Magnitude and associated factors of neonatal sepsis among neonates admitted to neonatal intensive care unit of Northern oromia hospitals, Ethiopia: A multicenter cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Globally sepsis is the most cause of neonatal death. Neonatal sepsis is the major newborn killer in Ethiopia, which accounts for more than one-third of neonatal deaths. Therefore, the study was aimed to assess the prevalence and associated factors of neonatal sepsis. METHODS: An institutional based cross-sectional study was employed on a total of 378 neonates admitted to the NICU of selected four hospitals. It was conducted from January 2021 to March 2021. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to determine the prevalence of neonatal sepsis. RESULTS: Among neonates who enrolled in this study 188(50.1%) of them were females and 283 (75.5%) of them were in the age group of early neonatal period. The overall magnitude of neonatal sepsis in this study was 196(52.27%). From this 159(81.12%) and 37(18.88%) of neonates developed early onset neonatal sepsis and late onset neonatal sepsis, respectively. Factors such as age of neonates[AOR = 2.351, 95% CI (1.131, 4.888)], birth weight of neonate less than 2.5 kg[AOR = 2.546, 95% CI (1.875, 3.643)], multiple per digital vaginal examination[AOR =0.278, 95% CI (0.148,0.522)], history of urinary tract infection[AOR = 3.709, 95% CI (1.828–7.301)], Meconium stained amniotic fluid (MSAF)[AOR = 0.384, 95% CI (0.152, 0.968)] and intrapartum high fever[AOR = 2.203, 95% CI (1.034, 4.692)] were the independent determinants of neonatal sepsis. CONCLUSION: This study indicated that the magnitude of neonatal sepsis was found to be high. In general, this study has found that both maternal and neonatal factors had contributed to the risk of neonatal sepsis. Based on these results we recommend the healthcare providers to focus on the prevention of risk factors rather than treating the disease after it occurs.