How long does it take to start minimal enteral feeding in preterm Neonates admitted to NICUs in Southern Oromia, Ethiopia?

Background The timely initiation of trophic feeding (TF) is crucial for premature newborns, but challenging due to immaturity, respiratory instability, abdominal distension, resource scarcity, and healthcare worker expertise. Moreover, there is a dearth of information on predictors of full trophic feeding time. Therefore, this retrospective cohort study aimed to investigate the time it takes and its predictors to initiate minimal enteral feeding in preterm neonates in Southern Oromia. Method A facility-based retrospective follow up study was conducted among 434 randomly selected preterm neonates admitted to NICU of Bule Hora University Teaching Hospital and Yabello General Hospital from January 1, 2021-December 30, 2022. Data were extracted by a pretested structured checklist, entered into Epidata 3.1 and then transferred to Stata version 17 for analysis. Kaplan Meier survival curve and log rank test were used to estimate survival time and a statistical comparison respectively. Bivariable and multivariable cox proportional hazard model was fitted to identify predictors of time to initiate TF and their outputs are presented using Adjusted Hazard Ratio (AHR) with 95% Confidence Intervals (CIs). Result In our study, the overall incidence density rate (IDR) of initiation of TF was 43.6 per 100 neonates-days of follow-up with a median time to start TF of 2 days and also only 21.93% of newborns started TF on the first day of observation. Furthermore, Neonates born vaginally (AHR: 1.64, 95% CI: 1.26, 2.13), GA of 32 < 34 weeks (AHR: 0.61, CI: 0.46, 0.81), VLBW (AHR = 0.45, CI: (0.34, 0.60), absence of KMC (AHR: 0.59, CI: 0.46, 0.79), absence of sepsis (AHR: 1.76, CI: 1.36, 2.28), absence of hypothermia (AHR: 1.51, CI: 1.19, 1.93) and secondary level of hospital (AHR: 0.78, CI: 0.62, 0.99) were associated with initiation of TF. Conclusion We observed a significant low rate of TF initiation and higher death rate of preterm newborn in our study as compared to the global. Preterm neonates with lower GA, no KMC, and a VLBW are more likely to have a delayed initiation. Our results highlight that, staff training on identifying neonates suitable for TF, and ensuring adequate resources for KMC in all NICU levels should be considered. Moreover, further studies are required to validate these findings and determine the influence on clinical outcomes.