Incidence of Preterm Infants, Indications of Admission, Risk Factors, and Discharge Outcome: A Retrospective Study

Background: Prematurity is still a major cause of neonatal and infant mortality and morbidity. Aim: This study aimed to describe the incidence of preterm infants, indications of admission, risk factors, and discharge outcome. Materials and Methods: A retrospective, descriptive design was used. A sample of 692 preterm infants admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) was included. A structured sheet was used to gather the necessary data. It involved two parts: characteristics of preterm infants and their mothers and risk factors concerning preterm birth. Results: The study found that 49.4% of admitted neonates were preterm; among them, 48.1% died on discharge. Moreover, there were significant relations between the type of gestation (p=0.000), mothers' age (p=0.001), anemia, pregnancy-induced hypertension, preeclampsia, antepartum hemorrhage, premature rupture of membranes, obstructed labor, family history of medical diseases, and mothers' history of medical diseases with preterm infants' gestational age (p=0.01, 0.001, 0.02, 0.01, 0.000, 0.000, 0.000, 0.000, respectively). Moreover, it was observed that higher admission of preterm infants who had respiratory problems, followed by gastrointestinal problems. Conclusion: There was a higher prevalence with a higher mortality rate of admitted preterm infants to NICU. Likewise, the type of gestation, mothers' age, presence of complications during pregnancy, bad obstetric history, and family and medical history of diseases were the most common risk factors of prematurity. Moreover, respiratory problems were the main etiology for admission of preterm infants to NICU. Therefore, early screening of diseases and obstetric complications during pregnancy is recommended. Implications for Nursing Practice: Providing educational programs for pediatric nurses will increase their level of awareness regarding incidence, indications, risk factors, and discharge outcome of prematurity, thus reducing the rate of mortality and morbidity among preterm infants.