Outcomes of Patient Care and Factors Associated with the Complications in Very Low Birth Weight Preterm Infants in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Abstract

This retrospective study determined the outcomes and associated factors with complications among very low birth weight preterm infants (VLBW) in the neonatal intensive care unit at Ramathibodi Chakri Naruebodindra Hospital. A total of 64 newborns with birth weight ≤ 1,500 grams and gestational age ≤ 32 weeks were included from January 1, 2019 to June 30, 2022. The statistics used for data analysis were percentage, mean, and standard deviation of mean. The Chi-square and Fisher's exact test were used for analysis of relationship between the complications. The results showed that a number of baby survivors were 70.31%. The complications were found 33 cases (51.56%). The most common complications were respiratory distress syndrome (92.19%), bronchopulmonary dysplasia (65.63%), and jaundice (81.25%). The related factors with the complications were birth weight and blood transfusions (p-value= 0.003 and 0.013, respectively). This research findings indicated that the VLBW group had a high mortality and complication rate.