| dc.description.abstract | Background: Neonatal mortality is a key public health concern. The neonatal mortality rate
currently stands at approximately 18 deaths per 1,000 live births, translating into millions of
deaths annually. Almost half of all neonatal deaths occur in the first day of life, largely from
preventable causes such as infection, asphyxia, and complications of prematurity. Despite
efforts to improve neonatal care, outcomes remain suboptimal, particularly for neonates
referred from lower-level facilities to regional hospitals. Late referrals, inadequate pre-referral
stabilization, and resource constraints contribute to high mortality rates
Objectives: This study aimed to determine the factors associated with neonatal outcomes
among referred neonates at Jinja Regional Referral Hospital.
Methods: A retrospective longitudinal study design employing documentary review of referred
neonates at Jinja Regional Referral Hospital. A structured data extraction tool was used to
collect data from neonatal records of all the referred neonates admitted to JRRH’s Neonatal
Unit were reviewed between December 2024 and December 2023. The collected data were
coded, entered into Excel spreadsheet, and analyzed using STATA 14. Data was presented in
form of text, tables and graphs. Ethical approval and permission to access records obtained
from JRRH management was obtained. Logistic regression was used to test for association
while an prevalence ratio was as the measure of the association between the two variables and
data was presented in term so text, table and pie-charts.
Results: A total of 87 referred neonates admitted to JRRH’s Neonatal Unit were reviewed
between December 2024 and December 2023 community members. From the study, the
survival of referred neonates admitted to JRRH’s Neonatal Unit was at 63.2%. The most
common primary reason for referral was prematurity, accounting for 35.6% of cases. Survival
of the referred neonates admitted to JRRH’s Neonatal Unit was significantly associated with
being referred from health facilities located within 10 km ((APR: 1.380; 95% CI: 1.076-1.584;
p = 0.029), staying in the hospital for three days or less (APR: 1.240; 95% CI: 1.083–1.837; p
= 0.024) and having not develop complications during hospitalization (APR: 1.202; 95% CI:
1.064-1.927; p = 0.034).
Conclusion: The study found that survival was low. Therefore, it is recommended that the
Ministry of Health should enhance neonatal referral systems, especially for facilities located
more than 10 km from the referral hospital and prioritize equipping lower-level health facilities
with basic neonatal care infrastructure and skilled personnel | en_US |
