Causes and Outcomes of Respiratory Distress in Neonates Hospitalized in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of Be’sat Hospital in Hamadan, Iran

Background Neonatal respiratory distress is one the most common problems in the first few day of neonatal life. The present study intended to determine the frequency of the causes and outcomes of respiratory distress in neonates hospitalized in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in Hamadan city, Iran. Materials and Methods In this descriptive and cross-sectional study, all the neonates with respiratory distress (RD), who were hospitalized in the NICU of Be’sat Hospital in Hamedan city, Iran, during 2014 to 2015, entered the study. The required demographic information was extracted from patients’ dossiers. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS version 16.0. Results The mean neonatal age upon admission, mean gestational age and mean birth weight were 5.22±7.18 days, 36.58±3.54 weeks and 2743.9±727.9 grams, respectively. According to the results, intercostal retraction (75.3%), tachypnea (67.7%), and grunting (61.3%) were the most common symptoms of neonatal respiratory distress (NRD), while respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) (36.6%), pneumonia (30.1%), and transient tachypnea of the newborn (TTN) (%14), were the most common causes of respiratory distress. Furthermore, about 19.3% of the neonates died of the disease. The results of logistic regression for the independent risk factors associated with RD outcomes showed that the death rate of neonates with RD had a significant correlation with respiratory failure requiring mechanical ventilation (odds ratio[OR]: 33.49, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 6.95-161.38), and incidence of apnea (OR: 5.87, 95% CI: 1.072-32.167). Conclusion It was found that RDS is the most common cause of respiratory distress in the hospitalized neonates. Moreover, infant mortality rate increased due to respiratory failure requiring mechanical ventilation and occurrence of apnea.