ABSTRACT
Objective. To determine the hematologic profile of preterm infants with regard to different diseases. Methods. A prospective, cross-sectional, observational study, conducted in 5 hospitals in Ethiopia from July 2016 to May 2018. Preterm babies <7 days of age were included and investigated with complete blood counts (CBC) and other investigations, accordingly. Results. Out of 4919 preterms, 3852 (78.3%) were admitted to a newborn intensive care unit, and of these, 68.3% had a CBC performed. The mean values of hemoglobin, white blood cell (WBC) and platelet counts were 17.9 mg/dL; 12 685 cells/mm3, and 159 340 cells/mm3, respectively. Early onset neonatal sepsis (EONS) 1433 (37%), asphyxia 266 (6.9%), and respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) 1738 (45.3%) were common reasons for admission. The WBC count was <5000 cells/mm3 for 8.8%, 9.0%, and 11.1% of neonates with EONS, asphyxia and RDS, respectively. The hemoglobin value was <7 mg/dL for 0.6%, 1.7%, and 0.4% of preterm infants with EONS, asphyxia, and RDS, respectively. The platelet count was <50 000 cells/mm3 for 16.8%, 17.7%, and 19.8% of preterms admitted with a diagnosis of EONS, asphyxia, and RDS, respectively. Conclusion. WBC and platelet counts were the most common to be associated with EONS, asphyxia, and RDS. Further study is recommended to determine the effect of abnormal hematologic profile on the outcome of preterm babies.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Neonatal mortality contributes to nearly half of under-five mortality in Ethiopia. Treatment seeking for newborn danger signs remains low despite correlations with neonatal mortality. This study tests a theoretical model of factors affecting mothers' treatment seeking intention for neonatal danger signs in northwest Ethiopia. METHOD: A cross sectional study was conducted from March 3-18, 2016 in northwest Ethiopia. A total of 2,158 pregnant women and women who had delivered in the past 6 months were interviewed. Latent variables; knowledge of neonatal danger signs (KDS), household level women empowerment (HLWE) and positive perception toward the behavior of health care providers (PPBHCP) were measured using a Five Point Likert Scale. Socioeconomic status (SES), number of antenatal care attendance, perceived cost of treatment (PCT), average distance to health facilities (ADHF) and treatment seeking intention (TSI) were observed variables in the study. A structural equation modeling was applied to test and estimate the hypothesized model of relationships among latent and observed variables and their direct and indirect effects on TSI. RESULT: KDS, PPBHCP, HLWE, and PCT showed direct, positive and significant association with TSI (ß = 0.41, p<0.001, ß = 0.08, p<0.002, ß = 0.18, p<0.001, and ß = 0.06, p<0.002, respectively). SES was not directly associated with TSI. However, it indirectly influenced TSI through three pathways; KDS, number of ANC attendance and HLWE (ß = 0.05, p<0.05, ß = 0.08, p<0.001 and ß = 0.13, p<0.001, respectively). Number of antenatal care was not directly associated with TSI. But indirectly, it affected TSI through its direct effect on KDS and PPBHCP (ß = 0.05, p<0.05, ß = 0.14, p<0.001, respectively). PPBHCP and HLWE also showed indirect association with TSI through their direct effect on KDS (ß = 0.37, p<0.001, ß = 0.36, p<0.001, respectively). All in all, the model fitted the sample data and explained 31% of the variance in TSI. CONCLUSION: PPBHCP, HLWE, PCT and KDS were associated with mothers' TSI for newborn danger signs.
