Magnitude of Preterm Birth Admissions, Immediate Outcomes And Their Predictors In Debre Markos Referral Hospital, North West, Ethiopia, 2019.

Abstract Background: Each year 15 million preterm babies are born. Pre-term birth complications account for 35% of the estimated 3.1 million global neonatal deaths and are the second leading cause of death in children less than 5 years aged.Objective: we assessed the magnitude of preterm birth admissions, immediate outcomes and their predictors in Debre Markos Referral Hospital, North West, Ethiopia, 2019. Methodology: An institutional based retrospective cross- sectional study design was conducted. Bivariable and multivariable logistic regression analysis were done. Variables with p value <0.05 in multivariate analysis were declared as statistically significant at a 95% confidence interval. Results: Out of 212 neonates involved in the study, 27.8% were preterm birth admissions. From this 36.3% of neonates was died before discharge. Hypertension during pregnancy was significantly associated with preterm admissions (P= 0.013, AOR= 4.464, 95% CI: (1.375, 14.498)) and being extreme low and very low birth weight (P= 0.005, AOR= 2.107, 95% CI: (0.023, 0.508)), and those preterm babies with low APGAR score (P= 0.016, AOR= 3.113, 95% CI: (0.019, 0.669)) were significantly associated with death before discharge. Conclusion: Preterm admissions accounted for a significant percentage of neonatal admissions with significant death outcomes. Maternal medical problems like hypertension during pregnancy was significantly associated with preterm admissions. Also, preterm babies with extreme low birth weight and very low birth weight, low APGAR score were significantly associated with death outcome. Therefore, strategies should be designed to prevent preterm birth and their complications.