Risk Factors for Neonatal Mortality in Rural Iganga District, Eastern Uganda: A Case Control Study

Reducing Neonatal Mortality (NM) is vital in decreasing mortality in children below 5 years. Uganda has reported a significant reduction in under 5 and infant mortality over the past decade while NM has stagnated at 27 deaths per 1,000 live births. The NMR of 34 deaths per 1,000 live births in Eastern Uganda is higher than the national rate.

To determine risk factors for neonatal mortality in rural Iganga district, Eastern Uganda.

A matched case-control study was conducted between February and July 2019 in Nakigo and Nakalama sub-counties of Iganga district. Cases (n=91) were neonates that died and the controls (n=182) were live neonates at 1 month. Data on maternal, social demographic and neonatal variables were collected from mothers of neonates at household level. Descriptive analysis was performed to determine the profile of study participants. Data was presented as mean (and standard deviation) for continuous variables, and frequencies with percentages for categorical variables. A conditional logistic regression was performed to calculate Odds Ratios and to establish factors that were independently associated with risk of neonatal Mortality.

Giving birth to 5 or more children (AOR=2.88, 95% CI =1.25-6.63), attending less than 4 antenatal care visits (AOR= 2.27, 95% CI= 1.14-5.54), and giving birth to twins (AOR= 6.30, 95% CI=1.24-32.0) were the risk factors for neonatal mortality while delivering from health facilities was protective (AOR= 0.26, 95% CI= 0.12-0.56).

The risk factors for NM are: - giving birth to 5 or more children, attendance of less than 4 antenatal care visits and giving birth to twins. To reduce the risk of NM, the study re-emphasises the need to put more focus on neonatal care during pregnancy and child birth. The study findings can be utilised to determine priorities for reducing the risk of NM in rural settings.