Time to recovery and its predictors among neonates admitted with respiratory distress at northwest Amhara comprehensive specialized hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit ward, northwest Ethiopia, 2023. A prospective follow-up study

Introduction: Respiratory distress is the most common reason of admission in neonatal intensive care unit. There is also a challenge on recovery time especially in middle- and low-income countries. Apart from this, there are limited studies to assess the time to recovery and its predictors among neonates with respiratory distress in Ethiopia. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the time to recovery and its predictors in neonates admitted with respiratory distress at NICU in to comprehensive specialized hospitals in Northwest Ethiopia. Methods: A prospective follow-up study was conducted from April 11 to May 25, 2023, and a systematic random sampling technique was used to select 615 study participants. Data were entered into Epi-data version 4.6.0.2 and exported to STATA version 17 for analysis. The Kaplan-Meier test and log-rank test were used to estimate and compare the survival time. The appropriate model for the data was selected according to AIC, and Weibull regression was chosen. Finally, the adjusted hazard ratio was calculated with 95% Confidence Intervals (CI), and variables with a P- value < 0.05 were statistically significant predictor variables. Result: A total of 603 neonates were enrolled in this study, of which 446 (73.96%) recovered with a median recovery time of 9 days (interquartile range 5-13 days). Predictors affecting recovery time were prolonged labor (AHR=0.66; 95% CI: 0.46–0.93), sepsis (AHR=0.73; 95% CI: 0.57–0.95), low birth weight (AHR=0.47; 95% CI: 0.35-0.63), very low birth weight (AHR=0.15; 95% CI: 0.08-0.27) and CPAP (AHR=1.44; 95% CI: 1.07-1.96). Conclusion and recommendation : The median overall time to recovery from respiratory distress was slower in this study compared with other studies. Sepsis, low birth weight, very low birth weight, CPAP, and mother who had prolonged labor history were found to be statistically significant variables. To shorten recovery time, special attention should be paid to neonates born from prolonged labor history, having sepsis, low birth weight, and very low birth weight. In addition, recovery time can also be shortened by promoting CPAP use.