Sumaira Masood, Mahmood-ur Rahman, Saadan Saleem, Arif Hussain, Abdur Rehman Rasheed, Ayesha Nudrat, Ama-tu-salam Batool, Saadia Samad.
Burden, Outcome and Diseases of Low Birth Weight Babies - A Descriptive Study in Military Hospital, Rawalpindi.
Pak Paed J Nov ;39(4):217-21.

Objectives: To find out the frequency of low birth weight babies, diseases for which they were admitted to Military Hospital, Rawalpindi and the outcome at the time of discharge. Study Design: descriptive cross sectional study. Place and duration of study: This was carried out in neonatal intensive care unit of Military Hospital between August 2013 to January 2014. Participants & Methods: All babies born alive or admitted to NICU during study period were recorded (1109). Data on low birth weight babies (weight less than 2,500 g) demographic profile, disease/reason for admission and the outcome at the time of discharge as alive or dead was collected using a proforma and analyzed using Microsoft Excel and SPSS version 20. A p value of < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Four hundred and thirty two (38% - 39%) low birth weight babies were admitted to Military hospital. Out of these, 242 (56%) survived. Cumulatively, 60% of babies stayed in hospital for 3 days or less. Majority (55%) of all deaths occurred on the first day. Respiratory Distress Syndrome (28%) and sepsis (19%) contributed to the major bulk of the diseases among low birth weight births irrespective of outcome. Conclusion: Low birth weight is a major cause of neonatal mortality. RDS and sepsis are prominent diseases in these babies. Those who survive, place burden on the hospital because of long length of stay.

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