DETERMINANTS OF PRETERM BIRTH AT THE POSTNATAL WARD OF KENYATTA NATIONAL HOSPITAL, NAIROBI, KENYA

6^th International Conference on Medical Informatics & Telemedicine

July 05-06, 2018 | Berlin, Germany

Okubatsion Tekeste Okube

The Catholic University of Eastern Africa, Kenya

Scientific Tracks Abstracts: J Health Med Informat

Abstract :

Statement of the Problem: Preterm birth remains the leading cause of perinatal and postnatal mortality and morbidity especially in developing countries like Kenya where the health care services are suffering from limited resources. In Kenya, in 2014, the under-five and infant mortality rates were 52 and 39 per 1000 live births respectively (UNICEF, 2015). Although, the burden of preterm birth is heavy in Kenyatta National Hospital, there is limited information available about the determinants of preterm birth at the hospital. Hence the aim of this study was to determine the determinants of preterm birth at Kenyatta national hospital (KNH), Nairobi, Kenya. Materials and Methods: This was a hospital based cross-sectional study involving randomly selected respondents (N=183) from the post natal ward of KNH. Systematic random sampling method was applied to recruit the study respondents. A pretested semi-structured questionnaire was employed to collect information on the possible determinants of Preterm birth. Data was analysed using SPSS software version 22.0.Descriptive analysis was done using mean and frequency proportion. Pearson�s chi-square test and odds ratio with corresponding 95% confidence intervals were used to find the association between the various variables. Findings: The prevalence of preterm birth was 20.2%. History of urinary tract infection during pregnancy, history of preterm birth, history of abortion, history of hypertension during pregnancy, maternal age and alcohol consumption during pregnancy were determined as significant risk factors for preterm birth. Conclusion and recommendation: The determinants of preterm birth are multifactorial and most of them are controllable if reproductive age mothers are educated properly. It is very important for antenatal mothers to adhere to the guidelines of antenatal visits so that those at risk are early spotted and closely monitored.

Biography :

Okubatsion Tekeste Okube is a Nurse lecturer at The Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA), Department of Nursing, Nairobi, Kenya. He has a bachelor degree in nursing from Asmara College of Health Sciences, Asmara, Eritrea and Master degree in Nursing (Community Health Nursing) from the University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya. Currently, he is pursuing his PhD in Nursing at the University of Nairobi, Kenya.

E-mail: tekeste.ok@gmail.com