Survival rate and risk factors of death of very low birth weight infants in Sisaket hospital

Abstract

Background: Very low birth weight infants are among the infants with a high complication and mortality rate.
Objective: To determine the survival rates and risk factors of death of very low birth weight infants in Sisaket hospital.
Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study. Data were collected from medical charts and electronic medical records of neonates with birth weight less than 1,500 grams who were admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in Sisaket hospital between January 1, 2017 and December 31, 2020.                                                                                                                                                                      Result: A total of 268 cases were enrolled in this study, 53.4% were male. The mean gestational age was 29.1 ± 2.3 weeks, the mean birth weight was 1182.9 ± 244 grams. The survival rate of very low birth weight infants and extremely low birth weight infants were 75.0% and 35.9% respectively. The most common comorbidity and complication was respiratory distress syndrome 79.1%, followed by sepsis 72.8%. On multivariate logistic regression analysis, the risk factors of death of very low birth weight infants were gestational age < 27 weeks (odds ratio 5.036, P 0.003), birth weight < 1,000 grams (odds ratio 8.000, P < 0.001), disseminated intravascular coagulation (odds ratio 3.190, P 0.026) and needed high frequency oscillatory ventilation (HFOV) (odds ratio 14.401, P < 0.001).
Conclusion: The survival rate among very low birth weight infants in this study is acceptable. The risk factors of death in these infants were gestational age < 27 weeks, birth weight < 1,000 grams, disseminated intravascular coagulation and needed high frequency oscillatory ventilation (HFOV)