MAGNITUDEAND ASSOCIATED FACTORS OF NEONATAL SEPSIS AMONG NEONATES ADMITTED TO NEONATAL iNTENSIVE CARE UNIT IN HIWOT FANA SPECIALIZED HNIVERSITY HOSPITAL, HARAR, EASTERN ETHIOPIA

Abstract

Background:Neonatal sepsis contributes substantially to neonatal morbidity and mortality and a high-priority public health issue, particularly in the context of developing countries and delay in early identification and treatment of neonatal sepis is among the main contributors.In Ethiopia, neonatal sepsis is among theleading causes of neonatal morbidity and mortality.This study is aimed at identifying the magnitude and associated factors of neonatal sepsis in Hiwot fana specialized university hospital so that it guides preventive strategies to decrease the burden of neonatal sepsis Objective: To determine magnitude and associated factors of neonatal sepsis among neonates admitted to Hiwot fana specialized university hospital Neonatal intensive care unit. Methodology: An institution based cross-sectional study was conducted among 384 neonates with their respective mothers admitted to Hiwot Fana Specialized University Hospital NICU from November 042022 to January 30 2023.The consecuative sampling technique was usedfrom the neonates who were admitted to NICU until the required sample size was reached.All neonates admitted to NICU in the study period were included. Those excluded were whose mothers were not available after 3 consecutive days of wait and those re admitted during the study period.Data were collected through face to face interviews and neonatal records reviewusing pretested structured questionnaire.The data were entered to SPSS version 26 software for analysis. The binary logistic regression model was used to test the association between depenedent and independent variable and multivariable logistic regression was used to control possible confounders andp-value < 0.05 was considered as a statistically significant association. Result: The magnitude of neonatal sepsis in the study was 68%. The study found that factors associated with neonatal sepsis were premature rupture of membrane (AOR=2.98; 95%CI: 1.27- 7.00),history of intrapartalfever (AOR= 1.34; 95%CI: (1.01, 2.09)and prelacteal feeding (AOR= 2.58; 95%CI: 1.15-4.83) Conclusion:These study highlighted neonatal sepsis is high in the study area and factors associated with neonatal sepsis are premature rupture of membrane,intrapartal fever, prelacteal feeding