Prevalence of Preterm Neonatal Sepsis and Associated Factors Among Preterm Neonates Admitted in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of Public Hospitals, Southwest Shewa Zone, Ethiopia, 2022

Back-ground: -Neonatal sepsis is one of the major causes of neonatal mortality and sickness worldwide. In Ethiopia, it is also the main cause of neonatal deaths. As a result, there have been many advances in the prevention, evaluation and management of neonatal sepsis in past few decades. However, neonatal sepsis rates in Ethiopia are continuously rising. This study aims to assess the prevalence of preterm neonatal sepsis and associated factors among preterm neonates admitted in neonatal intensive care units of public hospitals, Southwest Shewa, Oromia, Ethiopia, 2022. Objective: - To assess prevalence of preterm neonatal sepsis and associated factors among preterm neonates admitted in neonatal intensive care unit of public hospitals, Southwest Shewa Zone, Ethiopia, 2022 Methods: Institutional based cross-sectional study was conducted from April 4 to June 30, 2022, in public hospitals of Southwest Shewa, Oromia, Ethiopia 2022. A total of 422 mother-neonates’ pairs were selected by systematic random sampling technique. Pretest and structured questionnaires were used to collect data. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was fitted to identify factors associated with neonatal sepsis. Adjusted odd ratio (AOR) with the corresponding 95% confidence interval was used to show the strength of association and variables with p-values of < 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results: The overall, prevalence of preterm neonatal sepsis was 63% and among all preterm neonates who had sepsis 65.1% had early onset of neonatal sepsis. Among maternal factors urinary tract infection (UTI) (AOR=5, 95%CI= (2.79, 8.24) and duration of labor greater than twelve hours (AOR=3.2, 95%CI= (1.47, 5.85) and among neonatal factors preterm/Gestational age >37wks (AOR=2.5, 95%CI= (1.45, 4.15), Low admission birth weight (AOR=3.7, 95% CI=(2.09, 6.36) and Breast initiation within the first one hours (AOR=0.38, 95%CI=(0.22, 0.68). Conclusion and Recommendation: overall, prevalence of preterm neonatal sepsis was high. Preterm neonatal sepsis was positively associated with low birth weight, premature birth and urinary tract infection. To decrease the severity of neonatal sepsis, it was recommended to prevent maternal urinary tract infection (UTI) during pregnancy and improve intrapartum and postpartum care for preterm/low-birth weight neonates.