Validity of C-reactive protein (CRP) for diagnosis of neonatal sepsis

ABSTRACT

Objective: To determine the validity of C-reactive protein levels for diagnosis of neonatal sepsis. Methods: A cross sectional [Validation] study was conducted at Neonatology unit in KRL general hospital [emergency/OPD] of 7 months duration from February 2012 to August 2012. By using purposive sampling technique, 147, sample size was calculated by using WHO sample size calculator taking sensitivity 75%, specificity 95%, expected prevalence 50%, desired precision 10% and confidence level 95%. Results: Mean age of the neonates was 5.72 days + 3.86. Male patients were 81[55.1%] while 66[44.9%] were female. Neonatal sepsis was observed in 43[29.25%] and were confirmed through blood culture while 104[70.75%] were not confirmed on blood culture as neonatal sepsis. The sensitivity and specificity of CRP in diagnosis of acute neonatal sepsis was 76.92% and 53.49% respectively while it had a positive predictive value of 80% and negative predictive value of 48.94%. Over all the diagnostic accuracy of CRP in diagnosis of neonatal sepsis was 70.07%. Conclusion: CRP estimation does have a role in the diagnosis of neonatal sepsis but the test is not specific enough to be relied upon as the only indicator