Clinical outcome and associated factors of respiratory distress syndrome among preterm neonates admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit of Adama Hospital and Medical College

OBJECTIVE: Aim of the study was to assess the clinical outcome and associated factors of respiratory distress syndrome among preterm neonates admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit of Adama Hospital and Medical College. METHODS: Hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted using 242 randomly selected medical records of preterm neonates admitted to Adama comprehensive specialized hospital. Clinical outcome was categorized as poor if the neonate died or left against advice and good if discharged after improvement. Data were coded, entered into Epidata v.7.4.2 and exported to SPSS v.27 for analysis. After initial bi-variable logistic regression analysis, predictor variables with p-value of <0.2 were included in multivariable analysis. Significant association of factors with clinical outcome was claimed at p-value <0.05 and calculated 95% adjusted odds ratio. RESULTS: Majority of admissions were male (63.2%), mean birth weight of 1440.3 g (+321.2 SD) and sepsis (82%), hypothermia (73%), and apnea (21.5%) were leading comorbidities. One hundred fifty-two (62.8%) of preterm neonates had poor outcomes. Neonates born singleton were 47% less likely to develop poor clinical outcomes (adjusted odds ratio 0.53 (0.48–0.94). The odds of poor clinical outcomes were higher during the first 3 days of admission (adjusted odds ratio 3.83 (3.28–14.77). Extremely preterm neonates (adjusted odds ratio 4.16 (4.01–12.97), extremely low birth weight preterm neonates had higher odds of poor clinical outcome. CONCLUSION: The study found higher poor clinical outcome among preterm neonates admitted with respiratory distress syndrome. Poor outcome was higher in lower gestational age, lower birth weight, twins and majority of it happened during 3 days of their life. Effective preventive care and initiation of low-cost, life-saving interventions including heated humidified high-flow nasal cannula and surfactant administration could significantly improve the clinical outcome of the neonates.