Publication:

Epidemiological determinants of infant deaths occurring in a teaching hospital: an observational study

Background India has the highest number of infant deaths, contributing about 23% to the global burden of infant deaths. Sustainable development goal states that, by 2030, preventable deaths of new-borns and children under 5 years of age should be ended, with all countries aiming to reduce neonatal mortality to at least as low as 12 per 1000 live births and under-5 mortality to at least as low as 25 per 1000 live births. Aims of the study: (1) to understand the socio-demographic profile of the study cases, (2) to correlate the causes of infant deaths with age, parity and other obstetrics parameters.

Methods The present study was undertaken for the period of one year from January to December 2016. The study included 120 deceased infants from department of Pediatrics, Belagavi Institute of Medical Sciences (BIMS) Hospital, Belagavi. Information regarding socio-demographic profile, antenatal, intranatal and infant details were collected using a structured questionnaire.

Results 61.6% of study cases were male and three-fourth of them resided in rural area. 56.2% of the deceased infants were LBW, followed by VLBW (34.9%) and ELBW (8.9%).  The common causes of death among the deceased infants were prematurity (45%) followed by, birth asphyxia (34.2%), sepsis (12.5%), pneumonia (3.3%) and congenital anomalies and other (2.5%).

Conclusions Age of the infants, gestational age, place of delivery, delivery assisted and LBW were associated with infant deaths. There is a need for proper implementation of programmes related to mother and child health care.