Abstract:
Introduction: Birth asphyxia is defined as neonate’s failure to initiate and sustain breathing at
birth. It can be caused by events in the antepartum or intraparum period. Globally 20-30% of
neonates with hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy die while 33–50% of survivors have permanent
neurodevelopmental abnormalities (cerebral palsy, mental retardation). Most of the deaths occur
in low-resource countries such as Ethiopia. The burden in our setting is not studied previously.
Objectives: To assess treatment outcome and its associated factors of perinatal asphyxia among
neonates hospitalized in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of Hiwot Fana Specialized University
Hospital, Harar, Eastern Ethiopia January 1, 2018- December 31, 2023.
Methods and materials: A facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted among
asphyxiated neonates admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of Hiwot Fana Specialized
Comprehensive Hospital. A total of 335 neonates were included in the study. Data was collected
using a data extraction tool from the medical records of the neonates admitted from January 2018
to December 2023. It was collected from January 10 to January 30, 2024. Data was entered in to
Microsoft Excel sheet and exported to statistical package of social sciences version 29 for
analysis. The binary logistic regression model was used to identify the association between
dependent and independent variables using an adjusted odds ratio with a 95% confidence
interval. Finally, the statistical significance was declared with a p-value of less than 0.05.
Result: A total of 335 neonates with perinatal asphyxia were included in the study. Of the 335,
96 (28.7%) died with 95% CI (23.9-33.8%). In multivariable analysis, maternal obstetric
complications (AOR= 2.64, 95%CI: 1.43-4.87), birth weight (AOR-2.13 95%CI 1.11-4.07),
Stage II HIE (AOR=6.61 95%CI: 2.25-19.41) and stage III HIE (AOR= 84.56 95%CI 25.68-
278.44) were factors significantly associated with mortality.
Conclusion: The magnitude of mortality among asphyxiated neonates in the study area was
high. There was statistically significant correlation with maternal obstetric complications, birth
weight, and stage of HIE. Therefore, special attention should be given to maternal obstetric
complications
