Determinants of death among admissions to intensive care unit for newborns

Determinants of death in newborns admitted to the Intensive Care Unit were studied taking into consideration antenatal history, intrapartum events, and clinical findings. Over 3 years (1984, 1985 and 1986) 1747 admissions were the subjects of this study. Of these, 424 deaths formed the study group and 1323 survivors form the control group. Odds ratio, attributable risk, univariate analysis, multiple stepwise regression, and analysis of variance were obtained. Clinical features associated with respiratory distress, birth asphyxia, admission to nursery after 6 hours of birth, and hypothermia on admission were found to be important factors related to death among nursery admissions.