Early Outcomes and Associated Factors in Neonates with Extremely Low Birth Weight Admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Selected Referral Hospitals in Kigali.

Background: Every year, 15 million preterm births occur worldwide, and attendant complications are the main reason for mortality in children under five. A small proportion have extremely low birth weight (ELBW), needing close assistance to survive. There is limited information about ELBW neonates born in Rwanda. Objective: To assess the early outcomes and associated factors of ELBW neonates at three selected referral hospitals in Rwanda. Methods: This study conducted in 2020 was of retrospective cross-sectional design. Information was extracted from 108 files of ELBW neonates admitted to neonatal units in a referral hospital in Kigali, Rwanda. Results: The major cause of death was severe prematurity (45.10%). The majority of neonates with ELBW (52.8%) survived in the neonatal unit, and there was association with continuous positive airway pressure (81.48%) and ventilator (14.81%). Likewise, there was association between birth weight and neonatal outcome (p=0.004). Conclusion: This study revealed that the major cause of death of neonates with ELBW is severe prematurity associated with avoidable neonatal infection. However, the majority of ELBW neonates do survive. Continuous positive airway pressure, and ventilator machine are mostly used. Thus, strengthening preventive measures of preterm birth and infection prevention control are recommended to reduce deaths among ELBW neonates.