Risk Factors Associated with Neonatal Mortality and Their Status: A Matched Case-Control Study in Kurdistan

Neonatal mortality is a significant public health issue that can often be prevented. The present study was designed and conducted to determine the causes of neonatal mortality and the status of their mothers in Kurdistan Province in 2019.

In this matched case-control study, the case group comprised 171 deceased neonates, while the control group consisted of 171 healthy neonates, along with their mothers' status in Kurdistan Province in 2019. for each case in each city, one control from the same city within the same week of the case's birth was randomly selected. Data were collected using a checklist containing information on the neonates and their mothers. The analysis was performed using STATA 17 software, which involved descriptive tests and analytical tests. These included frequency calculation, chi-square test, conditional logistic regression, and a stepwise backward elimination method for multivariate analysis with (P = 0.1). A significance level of P < 0.05 was considered.

The results, after matching the odds ratio with a CI 95% using the backward method, showed a significant association between prematurity (OR:15.99, 95%CI:4.38-58.31), complications during pregnancy (OR:8.64, 95% CI:2.80-26.66), weight gain during pregnancy (OR:3.04, 95% CI:1.06-8.70).

The findings of our study suggest a positive association between neonatal mortality and specific maternal and neonatal factors, namely neonatal prematurity, complications during pregnancy, and inappropriate weight gain during pregnancy. Therefore, there is a compelling need to implement effective measures to control these identified risk factors, with the goal of reducing neonatal mortality.