Abstract
Introduction: Hypothermia is one of the major causes of newborn death, particularly in low-income nations. This was due to poor thermal care in most of the rural communities. The actual prevalence of neonatal hypothermia is unknown. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the prevalence and factors associated with neonatal hypothermia in the Shebadino woreda Sidama region, Ethiopia.
Method: A community-based cross-sectional study design was employed on 583 neonates in Shebadino Woreda, Sidama Region South Ethiopia 2022. A multistage sampling technique was employed. The data was collected door-to-door using pretested and structured questionnaires, through face-to-face interviews. The collected data were cleaned manually, coded, entered into EpiData version 4.6, and exported to SPSS version 26 software for analysis. Bi-variable analysis was conducted to assess the association of independent variables with the outcome variable. Variables with a p-value <0.25 in bi-variable logistic regression were further analyzed using multivariable logistic regression. The odds ratio (OR) with 95% CI was used as a measure of association, and variables that had a p-value less than 0.05 in the multivariable logistic regression were considered as significantly associated variables.
Result: The prevalence of neonatal hypothermia in Shebadino woreda is 56% (95% CI 51.6 to 59.9). Medical Problems during pregnancy (AOR = 3.48, 95% CI: 1.27, 9.55), placing a cold object near babies’ head (AOR =3.26, 95% CI: 1.71, 11.24), night time delivery (AOR =2.05, CI: 1.10-3.82), not covered head with cap (AOR =2.71, 95%, 1.44-5.10) and room temperature <20°C 2.66(1.34-5.27) were significantly associated with neonatal hypothermia.
Conclusion: The prevalence of neonatal hypothermia in the study area was relatively high. Therefore, attention is needed for strict adherence to cost-effective thermal care such as warming the room, teaching not to put cold objects near babies, giving special care for newborns for those delivered from women with medical problems, skin-to-skin contact, counseling for birth preparedness for a neonate covering material and giving priority for those delivered at night.
Keywords
Community-based study, Hypothermic, Neonates, Non-hypothermic, Sidama, Ethiopia