Neonatal mortality in a referral hospital in Cameroon over a seven year period: trends, associated factors and causes.

Abstract

Background: The fourth Millennium Development Goals targets reduction of the mortality rate of under-fives by 2/3 by the year 2015. This reduction starts with that of neonatal mortality representing 40% of childhood mortality. In Cameroon neonatal mortality was 31% in 2011. Objectives: We assessed the trends, associated factors and causes of neonatal deaths at the Yaounde Gynaeco-Obstetric and Pediatric Hospital. Methods: The study was a retrospective chart review. Data was collected from the hospital records, and included both maternal and neonatal variables from 1 st January 2004 to 31 st December 2010. Results: The neonatal mortality was 10%. Out-borns represented 49.3% of the deceased neonates with 11.3% born at home. The neonatal mortality rate followed a downward trend dropping from 12.4% in 2004 to 7.2% in 2010. The major causes of deaths were: neonatal sepsis (37.85%), prematurity (31.26%), birth asphyxia (16%), and congenital malformations (10.54%). Most (74.2%) of the deaths occurred within the first week with 35% occurring within 24hours of life. Mortality was higher in neonates with birth weight less than 2500g and a gestational age of less than 37 weeks. In the mothers, it was high in single parenthood , primiparous and in housewives and students.. Conclusion: There has been a steady decline of neonatal mortality since 2004. Neonatal sepsis, prematurity, birth asphyxia and congenital malformations were the major causes of neonatal deaths. Neonatal sepsis remained constant although at lower rates over the study period.

Neonatal mortality in the case of Felege Hiwot referral hospital, Bahir Dar, Amhara Regional State, North West Ethiopia 2016: a one year retrospective chart review

“…The occurrence of neonatal death was higher in preterm’s than those born to term. Which consistent with studies [ 8 , 10 – 16 ]. This is due to the fact that being preterm exposes the new born for different conditions.…”

“…Among the common diseases identified as a causes of neonatal mortality: pneumonia (5.13%), sepsis (9.68), congestive heart failure (33.33), jaundice (16.67), premature delivery (34.69) and other unidentified causes (9.84%). Which is consistent with studies [ 9 , 11 , 14 – 16 ] where the most common conditions for neonatal mortalities were preterm, asphyxia, neonatal infections; diarrhoea, sepsis, pneumonia, tetanus, and congenital malformations.…”

Prevalence and Predictors of Neonatal Sepsis among Neonates Admitted at the Newborn Unit of Kenyatta National Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya

“…Similar to our findings, a systematic review and meta-analysis conducted in East Africa found a prevalence of neonatal sepsis of 29.7% [25]. The prevalence of neonatal sepsis in the current study is lower than findings from Ethiopia at 45% [5], Tanzanian at [8], Cameroon at 37.9% [6] and Nigeria at 37.6% [7]. The difference in prevalence of neonatal sepsis could be explained by the difference in the clinical definition of sepsis at different settings.…”

“…Neonatal sepsis is highly prevalent in sub-Saharan African countries [4]. For example, the prevalence of neonatal sepsis is 45% in Ethiopia [5], 37.9% in Cameroon [6], 37.6% in Nigeria [7] and 34.1% in Tanzanian [8]. In Kenya, the prevalence of neonatal sepsis was reported at 29.3% [9].…”

A cohort analysis of neonatal hospital mortality rate and predictors of neonatal mortality in a sub-urban hospital of Cameroon

“…Though high birth rates occur in sub-urban Cameroon where access to neonatal health services is inadequate [ 11 , 12 ], epidemiological data on neonatal mortality in this area remains scarce. Furthermore, the patterns of neonatal mortality are useful indicators of the quality of obstetrical and neonatal care in a particular setting, and their assessment ensures the estimation of the quality of health care [ 13 , 14 ]. Therefore, we proposed this study to determine the neonatal hospital mortality rate and its predictors in a sub-urban setting of Cameroon.…”