Determining factors of neonatal kernicterus among neonates treated in NICU in health care centres of West Guji Zone, Suthern, Ethiopia

Kernicterus in infants is a medical challenge that is linked to infant death throughout the world. Extreme jaundice with or without Kernicterus affects roughly one million newborns internationally every year, with overall majority of instances happening in south Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. There are far more techniques and understanding about the etiology of infant ictrus in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is indeed vital to look into the causes that induce infant kernicterus in order to decrease infant morbidity and mortality rates.

A hospital-based unmatched case control study was carried out by evaluating systematically chosen charts of 544 neonates in the neonatal critical care unit of public general hospitals in the West, Guji Zone, Ethiopia. The information was gathered using an extraction format. For analysis, data were entered into epidata management version 4.4.2.1 and exported to SPSS version 20. The binary logistic regression model was employed to assess the relationship between independent and dependent variables.

A total of 272 neonatal cards were included. Obstetric complication [AOR: 5.77 at 95%CI: 1.85-17.98], low birth weight [AOR: 4.27at 95%CI: 1.579-11.555], birth asphyxia [AOR: 4.83 at 95%CI: 1.617-14.395], RH-incompatibility [AOR: 5.45 at 95%CI: 1.583-18.737], breast feeding [AOR: 6.11at 95%CI: 1.707-21.886], policytemia [AOR: 7.32 at 95%CI: 2.512-21.311], were the determinants of neonatal kernicterus.

Obstetric difficulties, birth hypoxia, breastfeeding, RH-incompatibility, low birth weight, and policytemia are all causes of Neonatal kernicterus. As more than just a consequence, this one was determined that detecting and treating infant kernicterus early on is crucial because it can cause life-threatening complications in newborns.