Evaluation of Frequency and Causes of Neonatal Readmission During 2019 to 2021

The neonatal period has a decisive role to play in the long term health of humans. To reduce the number of neonatal readmissions, due to reduced duration of early postnatal hospitalization for neonates, it is now considered that rate and cause should be evaluated as well as associated risk factors. That is why, from 2019 to 2021, this study will examine the rate and cause of readmissions for premature babies in Shahid Mostafa Khomeini Hospital, Tehran, Iran.

Health records of healthy infants born during the year 2019 through 2021 and readmitted to a neonatal unit 30 days after birth were examined in this cross-sectional study at Shahid Mostafa Khomeini Hospital, Tehran, Iran. Inputs and analyses of retrieved data were done within the SPSS version 21 software.

From totally 4951 neonates born during 3 years, 252 neonates (5.08%) were readmitted during first month of life. Jaundice (71%) and potential sepsis (16.3%) were most common causes of neonatal readmission. There's a big relationship between them. neonatal gender (P=0.010), gestational age (P=0.001), birth weight (P=0.019) and feeding type (P=0.001) with hospital readmission. The relationship between neonatal age and the cause of neonatal readmission is significant, P=0.001).

Readmissions occur in a number of neonates. In the first week of life, jaundice and feeding problems are usually the cause of neonatal readmission, and infections are a major cause of readmission after the first week. The risk factors for the readmission of newborns are male gender, lower birth weight and a gestation period not exceeding 37 weeks. While breastfeeding protects against these risks, maternal age is also an important factor.