Risk Factors for Neonatal Mortality in Neonatal Intensive Care Units (Nicus): A Systematic Literature Review and Comparison With Scoring Systems Publisher



Kermani F^{1, 2} ; Sheikhtaheri A³ ; Zarkesh MR⁴ ; Tahmasebian S⁵
Source: Journal of Pediatric and Neonatal Individualized Medicine Published:2020

Abstract

Objective: To identify neonatal death risk factors in NICUs and compare these factors with current scoring systems.Data source: This review was conducted using Web of Science,PubMed/Medline, Scopus, and Cochrane library databases, considering papers published between 2007 and 2018.Study selection: Studies conducted on the neonatal mortality risk factors in NICUs were included. We identified 3,642 unique citations; 69 full-text articles were included in the final review.Data extraction: Data elements such as the first author, published year,country, purpose, data collection period, study design, sample size, and risk factors were extracted.Data synthesis: Ninety factors were identified in three categories: 25 maternal factors, 59 neonatal factors, and six organizational factors. In total, delivery mode, non-use of steroid or corticosteroid, birth weight, gestational age, Apgar score, hospital/NICU level, and outborn status are the most cited risk factors for neonatal death. Well-known scoring systems did not consider many of the identified factors.Conclusions: Determination of risk factors in neonatal death can help neonatologists identify sick neonates who are more likely to die in Review NICUs and provide on-time care at their bedsides. Researchers interested in developing predictive neonatal mortality models may also use the results of this study to develop models for predicting neonatal death. ©2020, Journal of Pediatric and Neonatal Individualized Medicine. All rights reserved.