Experience and perceptions of healthcare providers on clinical management and care of near-miss infants: a qualitative content analysis.

INTRODUCTION: Neonatal Near Miss (NNM) refers to neonates with severe complications who almost died but survived immediately after birth. In Ethiopia, the prevalence of NNM has been assessed using a validated Neonatal Near-Miss Assessment Scale. However, understanding the experiences and perceptions of healthcare providers in the clinical management and care of NNM infants remains unexplored. The aim was to investigate the determinants contributing to the survival of neonatal near-miss babies and to identify any barriers encountered, as reported by the experiences of healthcare providers in public hospitals of Amhara Regional State, northwest Ethiopia. METHODS: Semi structured interviews were used to collect data from 25 midwives, nurses, and pediatricians with at least six months of prior experience in one of the labor wards or neonatal intensive care units at one of the four public health hospitals in the Amhara Regional state of northwest Ethiopia included in a large intervention study assessing a NNM scale. Purposeful sampling was used, selecting participants based on their experiences related to the aim of this study. The participants had a varying level of education and years of experience to care for NNM infants. The average age of the healthcare providers was 31 years, with 7 years of work experience. The transcripts of the interviews with the healthcare providers were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. RESULTS: The experience and perceptions of healthcare providers was described in the main category "A sense of hopelessness when caring for the baby" capturing a broader emotional and professional aspect, while the subcategories "Unclear responsibilities discharging one's mission", "Provision of kangaroo mother care" and "Quick action required at birth" are more specific and practical. Healthcare providers perceived a sense of hopelessness when caring for the NNM infant, particularly providing Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) and quick actions when required at birth to save the life of the infant. CONCLUSION: Unclear responsibilities and a sense of hopelessness could have acted as barriers, hindering the ability of healthcare providers to fulfill their mission of taking swift actions and providing KMC to NNM infants, thus impacting their ability to save the lives of these infants. Healthcare providers' and parents' attitudes must be changed towards hope rather than hopelessness when caring for NNM infants.

Effect of fetal malposition, primiparous, and premature rupture of membrane on Neonatal Near miss mediated by grade three meconium-stained amniotic fluids and duration of the active first stage of labor: Mediation analysis.

BACKGROUND: In many low-income countries, including Ethiopia, neonatal mortality remains a major concern. For every newborn that dies, many more neonates survived (near-miss neonates) the first 28 days after birth from life-threatening conditions. The generation of evidence on neonatal near-miss determinants could be a critical step in reducing neonatal mortality rates. However, studies causal pathway determinants are limited in Ethiopia. This study aimed to investigate the Neonatal Near-miss determinants in public health hospitals in Amhara Regional State, northwest Ethiopia. METHOD: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 1277 mother-newborn pairs at six hospitals between July 2021 and January 2022. A validated interviewer-administered questionnaire and a review of medical records were used to collect data. Data were entered into Epi-Info version 7.1.2 and exported to STATA version 16 in California, America for analysis. The paths from exposure variables to Neonatal Near-Miss via mediators were examined using multiple logistic regression analysis. The adjusted odds ratio (AOR) and ß-coefficients were calculated and reported with a 95% confidence interval and a p-value of 0.05. RESULTS: The proportion of neonatal near-misses was 28.6% (365/1277) (95% CI: 26-31%). Women who could not read and write (AOR = 1.67,95%CI:1.14-2.47), being primiparous (AOR = 2.48,95% CI:1.63-3.79), pregnancy-induced hypertension (AOR = 2.10,95% CI:1.49-2.95),being referred from other health facilities (AOR = 2.28,95% CI:1.88-3.29), premature rupture of membrane (AOR = 1.47,95% CI:1.09-1.98), and fetal malposition (AOR = 1.89,95% CI:1.14-3.16) were associated with Neonatal Near-miss. Grade III meconium stained amniotic fluid partially mediated the relationship between primiparous (ß = 0.517), fetal malposition (ß = 0.526), pregnant women referred from other health facilities (ß = 0.948) and Neonatal Near-Miss at P-value < 0.01. Duration of the active first stage of labour partially mediated the relationship between primiparous (ß = -0.345), fetal malposition (ß = -0.656), premature rupture of membranes (ß = -0.550) and Neonatal Near-Miss at P- value <0.01.It had also a significant indirect effect (ß = 0.581, P<0.001) on NNM with variables (primiparous, fetal malposition, and premature rupture of membranes). CONCLUSIONS: The relationship between fetal malposition, primiparous, referred from other health facilities, premature rupture of membrane, and Neonatal Near miss were partially mediated by grade III meconium stained amniotic fluid and duration of the active first stage of labour. Early diagnosis of these potential danger signs and appropriate intervention could be of supreme importance in reducing NNM.

Valid and reliable neonatal near-miss assessment scale in Ethiopia: a psychometric validation.

BACKGROUND: The concept of a neonatal near miss is used to explain neonates who nearly died but survived a life-threatening complication in the first 28 days of life. We have left many ill surviving (near-miss) neonates, due to a lack of valid and reliable assessment scale, particularly in Ethiopia. AIM: We aim to psychometrically validate the neonatal near-miss assessment scale (NNMAS) for Ethiopia. METHODS: A total of 465 live birth neonates were included with the assumption of a participant-to-item ratio of 15:1. A new contextually validated NNMAS was used to collect data. The Kaiseri--Mayer--Olkin (KMO) measure of sampling adequacy with a cutoff value of ≥0.50 for each item was applied. For reliability and validity of NNMAS, exploratory factor analysis using principal component analysis with oblique varimax rotation was used. Internal consistency and reliability were assessed using Cronbach's alpha. Convergent and discriminant validity was assessed using composite reliability (CR) and average variance extracted (AVE). RESULTS: The Kaiser--Mayer--Olkin (KMO = 0.74) measure of sampling adequacy and Bartlett's Sphericity test for the appropriateness of the identity matrix (χ2 = 2903.9, df = 276, and P = 0.000) were suitable for exploratory factor analysis (EFA). The correlation matrix determinant of the study was 0.002. The principal component analysis (PCA) identified six factors and together explained 54.3% of the variation in the Neonatal Near miss. The Cronbach-alpha coefficient was 0.80 for the entire scale. The composite reliability values of the factors ranged from 0.87 to 0.95. The AVEs, CR, and factor loadings were above 0.5 for all factors indicating that convergent validity was met. The square roots of the AVEs were greater than factor correlation values. It was revealed that discriminated validity was also met. CONCLUSION: The neonatal near-miss assessment scale was found to be valid and reliable in the present context. The scale can be used to identify near-miss neonates in Ethiopia.

Assessment of content validity for a Neonatal Near miss Scale in the context of Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND: The concept of neonatal near miss is used to identify neonates who nearly died but survived a life-threatening complication in the first 28 days of life. Neonatal mortality is the tip of the iceberg. Quality improvement through utilization of a validated scale and reduction in adverse neonatal outcome is a priority for achieving sustainable development goals. OBJECTIVES: To develop and assess the content validity of neonatal near-miss scale in the public health hospitals in Amhara Regional State, northwest Ethiopia. METHODS: A literature review was performed prior to the development of the neonatal near-miss assessment scale. An expert panel committee was formed by health facility practitioners and by the members of the academia. Two rounds of meetings were conducted with the expert panel to reach consensus on the face and content validity. The content validity index, Kappa statistics, and the content validity ratio were computed to estimate the content validity scale of neonatal near miss. RESULTS: In this study, four domains (pragmatic, clinical, management, and lab-investigations) with 32 items were identified. The item-level content validity index ranged from 0.7 to 1. The overall scale content validity (S-CVI) (average) for the domains (pragmatic, clinical, management, and lab-investigations) were 0.98, 0.95, 0.96, and 0.96, respectively. The overall S-CVI (universal) was 0.78 to 1, whereas the overall S-CVI (average) of neonatal near miss assessment scale was found to be 0.96. The content validity ratio and Kappa statistics values ranged from 0.6 to 1 and 0.9 to 1 for the respective domains. CONCLUSION: The identified four domains and the respective items were valid enough (content-wise) to be used as identification criteria for neonatal near-miss cases. The scale will contribute to neonatal near-miss identification and also improve the quality of neonatal management care.

Hematologic Profiles of Ethiopian Preterm Infants With Clinical Diagnoses of Early-Onset Sepsis, Perinatal Asphyxia, and Respiratory Distress Syndrome.

Objective. To determine the hematologic profile of preterm infants with regard to different diseases. Methods. A prospective, cross-sectional, observational study, conducted in 5 hospitals in Ethiopia from July 2016 to May 2018. Preterm babies <7 days of age were included and investigated with complete blood counts (CBC) and other investigations, accordingly. Results. Out of 4919 preterms, 3852 (78.3%) were admitted to a newborn intensive care unit, and of these, 68.3% had a CBC performed. The mean values of hemoglobin, white blood cell (WBC) and platelet counts were 17.9 mg/dL; 12 685 cells/mm3, and 159 340 cells/mm3, respectively. Early onset neonatal sepsis (EONS) 1433 (37%), asphyxia 266 (6.9%), and respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) 1738 (45.3%) were common reasons for admission. The WBC count was <5000 cells/mm3 for 8.8%, 9.0%, and 11.1% of neonates with EONS, asphyxia and RDS, respectively. The hemoglobin value was <7 mg/dL for 0.6%, 1.7%, and 0.4% of preterm infants with EONS, asphyxia, and RDS, respectively. The platelet count was <50 000 cells/mm3 for 16.8%, 17.7%, and 19.8% of preterms admitted with a diagnosis of EONS, asphyxia, and RDS, respectively. Conclusion. WBC and platelet counts were the most common to be associated with EONS, asphyxia, and RDS. Further study is recommended to determine the effect of abnormal hematologic profile on the outcome of preterm babies.

Childhood tuberculosis: management and treatment outcomes among children in Northwest Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study.

INTRODUCTION: Childhood tuberculosis (TB) treatment is becoming a major challenge in the TB control efforts of the Ethiopian health system. This study assessed childhood tuberculosis management, and treatment outcomes among children who completed anti-TB treatment in Northwest Ethiopia. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among children who completed their anti-TB treatment in Gondar University Referral Hospital and 6 satellite health centers. Data from each child with tuberculosis were obtained from review of medical records. P-values < 0.05 were considered statistically significant. RESULTS: The commonest method of childhood TB diagnosis was clinical assessment combined with chest x-ray (48.5%). Absence of compliance with TB treatment guideline (98.7%), providing inadequate anti-TB regimen (1.8%), and poor adherence to treatment (22.5%) were challenges in management of childhood tuberculosis. Treatment success rate was 78.9%. In the bivariate regression, factors associated with TB treatment outcomes were permanent residence (OR=8.3, 95%CI: 4.1, 16.7), antiretroviral therapy (OR=4.5, 95%CI: 1.2, 16), and adherence to treatment (p < 0.001). After controlling for confounders, adherence to anti-TB treatment (OR=0.003, 95% CI: 0.001, 0.02) was independent predictor of treatment success. CONCLUSION: Anti-tuberculosis treatment success rate was still low among children in Northwest Ethiopia. The health centers and hospital shall enhance strong follow-up of children on anti-tuberculosis treatment to improve treatment success with focus on rural children.