Study of the Morbidity and Mortality Pattern in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at a Tertiary Care among The Under Privileged Population in Attapadi, Kerala

Abstract

Background: Newborns are one among the most vulnerable group and those from the under privileged area are especially so, because of the resource poor social settings, poor health infrastructure, poor transport facilities for sick babies and poor maternal nutritional status.
Giving proper care both antenatal and in neonatal period can definitely improve the morbidity and mortality among one of the most vulnerable set of social group and also awareness of morbidity and mortality rate will aid to provide proper planning, channeling and utilization of resources appropriately.
Aim: Study the morbidity and mortality patterns of under privileged patients from Attapadi admitted in to NICU of a tertiary care hospital in Kerala.
Materials and Methods: This hospital based retrospective study was carried out in the NICU of a tertiary care hospital in Malappuram district for a period of 2 years (April 2018- March 2020). After taking ethical permission from Institutional Ethical Committee and administrative permission from medical superintendent, medical files of the under privileged neonates from Attapadi were retrospectively reviewed. Inclusion criteria: All under privileged newborns(<28 days of life) from Attapadi admitted in to NICU for a period of 2 years (April 2018- March 2020). Exclusion criteria: (a) Babies who left the hospital against medical advice. (b) Neonates whose medical records were incomplete.
Results: Male (31) to female (33) ratio was 1:1.06, of the sixty four babies who were admitted in this hospital among the tribal population. Among the total number of admission 47 of them were preterm neonates and 17 were term neonates. The chief causes of admission in NICU were Low birth weight (87.50%), Prematurity with Respiratory distress syndrome (43.75%) followed by Hypoglycemia (18.75%), sepsis(18.75%), Birth asphyxia (12.50%), Seizures (6.25%), Meconium aspiration syndrome (1.57%) and others (9.38%). Out of the 4 deaths, 3 deaths occurred in babies weighing less than 1000g and one death was in less than 1500g. Mortality was noted only among preterm babies.