Newborn admission during covid-19 lockdown in South-East Nigeria: a comparative study

Abstract

Background: The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS- CoV-2) is a novel positive- stranded RNA virus, belonging to the β‐coronavirus genus. Lockdown measures were instituted by the Nigerian government to reduce transmission of infection among the populace, which affected movement of individuals, access and utilization of healthcare services.
Methods: This was a retrospective study describing the hospital admission in the Neonatal Unit of a tertiary hospital during COVID-19 lockdown and a comparative pre-lockdown period.
Results: A total of 432 babies were studied for the two years study period, out of which 260 (60.2%) babies were admitted in 2019 and 172 (39.8%) babies were admitted in 2020. There was a decline in admission rate by 66.2%. There was a significant (p=0.013) reduction in the mean monthly admission from 65±17.8 in 2019 to 43 ±7.3 in 2020. There was a significant reduction in the mean duration of hospital stay in 2020 (6.69±6.93days) from that of 2019 (8.55±8.62 days) (p=0.018). Neonatal infections constituted 35% and 22% of neonatal admissions in 2019 and 2020 respectively, while preterm infants constituted 21.9 % and 14.5 % of the admissions in 2019 and 2020 respectively. There was a significantly higher rate of discharged against medical advice (DAMA) and a lower number of neonatal deaths in 2020 compared with 2019 during the period of the study (p=0.040).
Conclusion: During the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown a reduction in neonatal hospital admissions, neonatal deaths, neonatal infections, preterm infants admissions and increased discharge against medical advice was observed.