Magnitude of kangaroo mother care practice and its associated factors in Tigray region, northern Ethiopia, 2019: cross-sectional study design

INTRODUCTION: kangaroo mother care is an evidence based approach care of preterm and low birth weight infants carried skin-to-skin with the parents that can decrease morbidity and mortality of infant. Country level adoption and practice of kangaroo mother care has been limited and global coverage remains low and few studies have examined the reasons for low practice. The aim of this study was to assess the magnitude of kangaroo mother care practice and its associated factors in Tigray, northern Ethiopia, 2019. METHODS: an institutional-based cross-sectional study design was conducted in public general hospitals of Tigray, northern Ethiopia, 2019. Two-stage sampling technique was used and an interviewer-administered questionnaire were used to collect the necessary information. The data were cleaned and entered using epi-Data version 3.1 then exported to stoical package for social science (SPSS) version 22.0 for analysis. Bivariate logistic regression and multivariable analysis were carried out at adjusted odds ratios (AOR) with 95% CI and significance level p-value (<0.05). RESULTS: out of the total 844 selected mothers with their infants, 840 were participated in the study yielding to a response rate of 99.5%, of these respondent’s kangaroo mother care practice was found to be 70.2%. Being mothers housewife [(AOR=4.12, 95% CI: (1.5, 0.11)], maternal age [(AOR=9.3, 95% CI: (2.5, 33.9 )], currently mode delivery [(AOR=5.39, 95% CI: (2.3, 12.25)], number of children [(AOR=8.38, 95%: (4.6, 15.3)], mother having ≥5 children [(AOR=18.2, 95%CI: (9.4, 35.4)], antenatal care [(AOR=3.299 95%CI: (1.54, 7.07)] were factors at p-value (<0.05) significantly associated with kangaroo mother care practice. CONCLUSION: in this study, maternal age, parity, antenatal care, occupation and mode of delivery were factors that influence kangaroo mother care practice in the study area, so healthcare providers, policymakers and other stakeholders should give special focuses on those influencing factors.