EARLY NEONATAL MORBIDITIES AMONG TERM AND LATE PRETERM INFANTS IN A TERTIARY CARE CENTRE - A COMPARATIVE STUDY

Background: Late preterm infants are the largest subgroup of preterm infants but they are also a group that is seldom studied. The overall NICU admission rates of these group has been increasing worldwide. Only few studies have been conducted to assess the neonatal morbidity and mortality in late preterm infants [1-4]. Understanding morbidity risk among late preterm infants important for helping newborn care providers to anticipate and to manage morbidity during the birth and also possibly assist in guiding nonemergency obstetric intervention decisions. The present study is an attempt to obtain actual data on incidence, pattern of early neonatal morbidities, and to compare it with term infants.

Aims and Objectives: To compare early neonatal morbidity (within first 7 days of life) in late preterm infants with term infants.

Methodology: A hospital based prospective observational study conducted among 110 newborns in postnatal ward & Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of Government medical college, Kannur during 1year period (March 2022 - March 2023). Study population: All term & late preterm newborns of Government medical college, Kannur. We assessed morbidities like RDS, hypoglycemia, NEC, Jaundice, sepsis and HIE and compared the incidence between term and late preterm neonates during the study period. Results were analyzed using a statistical software package SPSS, version 20.0.

Results: Among 110 study population ,43% were late term infants while 56% were term infants. Morbidities like RDS (22.9%), sepsis (8%), hypoglycemia (3%), neonatal jaundice (33%), NEC (16%), HIE (2%) were found to be significantly higher in late preterm infants when compared to term infants.

Conclusion: Late preterm infants are at higher risk for a number of neonatal complications like respiratory distress syndrome, neonatal jaundice, sepsis, feeding problems, hypoglycemia and HIE. All these in turn leading to higher rates of NICU admission and late discharge from hospital during first seven days of life.