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Aim A study of neonatal admissions to a rural hospital (Kiwoko Hospital) in Uganda in 2008 showed that 50% of infants born prematurely died.1 Improvements in neonatal care at Kagando Hospital, a rural hospital in South West Uganda, were associated with a reduced mortality sustained over a five-year period.2 Diagnoses on admission, however, were poorly recorded, hence it was not possible to determine whether there had been improvements in survival in premature infants. We, therefore, prospectively audited neonatal admissions at Kagando Hospital and compared in hospital mortality by prematurity and birth weight to published data (1). Methods The data were collected for all admissions to the neonatal unit at Kagando Hospital between10th June – 10th July 2018. Data on weight and estimated gestational age on admission, postnatal age on admission and discharge, diagnosis and outcome were taken from the ward admission book and paper charts. Results Sixty-three neonates with a median weight of 2.7 (range 1.0–5.0) kg and estimated gestational age of 40 (28–40) weeks were admitted. Their median length of stay, excluding those who died, was 6 (1–37) days. There was no significant difference in mortality in those born prematurely versus those born at term (p=0.933). The mortality rate of the preterm infants was lower than in Kiwoko Hospital (13% versus 50%, p In comparison to Kiwoko Hospital, there was a slightly lower morality rate in the lowest birth weight group. Table 2: Conclusion These results suggest survival in prematurely born and VLBW infants admitted to rural hospitals in Uganda has improved over the last decade. References Hedstrom, et al. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth 2014. Harris, et al. Paediatrics and International Child Health (2018 in press). |
