Prevalence, factors associated and treatment outcome of hyperbilirubinaemia in neonates admitted to St Francis hospital, Nsambya, Uganda: a descriptive study

Background: With targeted management of neonatal hyperbilirubinaemia in high-income countries, there has been a drastic drop in both the prevalence and mortality. On the contrary, over two-thirds of the global burden of neonatal hyperbilirubinaemia is in Sub-saharan Africa and South East Asia with a high mortality risk of 16-35%. Neonatal hyperbilirubinaemia is not a leading global cause of neonatal mortality, however leads to irreversible neurological damage and death when managed poorly. Three-quarters of the babies admitted to the national referral hospital in Uganda had significant hyperbilirubin-aremia; 16.6% of these babies died. We aimed at determining the prevalence, treatment outcome and describing factors associated with hyperbilirubinaemia in neonates admitted to St Francis hospital, Nsambya. Methods: A cross sectional study was carried out. A total of 242 files of babies with a preliminary diagnosis of hyperbilirubinaemia were retrieved retrospectively. Relevant data was extracted from the files and analysed using STATA version 14.0. Results: The prevalence of significant hyperbillirubinaemia was 22.7% (55/242). Seventy-seven percent of the babies admitted did not require treatment for hyperbilirubinaemia. No factors were found to be significantly associated with significant hyperbilirubinaemia. The case fatality for severe hyperbilirubinaemia was 20% (6/30); half of these babies had haemolytic disease of the newborn. Conclusion: Establishment of local guidelines will prevent unnecessary admissions and ensure timely treatment is administered. Longitudinal studies are required to discover factors associated with neonatal hyperbilirubinaemia in this region.