NEONATAL HYPOTHERMIA AND ASSOCIATED FACTORS AMONG NEONATES ADMITTED TO NEONATAL INTENSIVE CARE UNITS OF PUBLIC HOSPIT ALS IN JIGJIGA TOWN, EASTERN ETHIOPIA

Abstract

Background: Neonatal hypothermia is a global public health problem contributing to neonatal morbidity and deaths especially in low and middle-income countries. High neonatal hypothermia had reported from the countries with the highest neonatal death. More than 1.1 million neonatal deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa mainly as neonatal hypothermia and so, improving newborn survival through appropriate thermal care is a major priority in child health policy today. Objectives: To assess the magnitude of neonatal hypothermia and associated factors among neonates admitted to neonatal intensive care units in Public Hospitals in Jigjiga Town, eastern Ethiopia from April 01 to August 30, 2023. Methods: An institution-based cross-sectional study conducted among randomly selected 377 participants admitted to neonatal ICUs at Public Hospitals in Jigjiga Town, eastern Ethiopia. Data were collected from participants using pretested-structured questionnaires through face-to face interview and record-review. Data were entered using Epi-Data version 3.1 and analyzed using SPSS version 25. Descriptive statistics were conducted to describe the participants. Independent variables with P-value<0.25 during the bivariate analysis were considered to multivariate binary logistic regression analysis to determine factors significantly associated with neonatal hypothermia. Adjusted odds ratio (with 95% CI) was used to report the association and the statistical significance was declared at P–value<0.05. Results: A total of 377 participants participated in this study, yielding response rate of 100%. Prevalence of neonatal hypothermia among neonates attending NICU at public hospitals was 237(64.1%) (95% CI: 59.2%, 68.9%) in the study area. In this study, delivered at night-time [AOR=2.78(1.71, 4.96)], mother age of less than 25 years [AOR=1.99(1.20, 3.31)], maternal illiteracy [AOR=2.28 (1.37, 3.78)], lack ANC visits[AOR=2.47(1.23, 4.96)], neonatal birth-weight [AOR=3.38(2.04, 5.59)] and being delivered at-most 37 weeks gestational age and less [AOR=2.44(1.22, 4.88)] were factors associated with the higher odds of neonatal hypothermia. Conclusions: Neonatal hypothermia remains a prevalent and preventable neonatal health issue in the study area. Interventions should focus on promoting early skin-to-skin contact, ensuring thermal care during operative deliveries and night-time births, and improving antenatal care coverage to reduce hypothermia-related complications.