Neonatal hypothermia and its association with delayed initiation of breastfeeding and low birth weight in Ethiopia: Systematic review and meta-analysis

• Published in: International journal of Africa nursing sciences 2022, Vol.16, p.100428, Article 100428
• Main Authors: Asmare Techane, Masresha, Asmare Atalell, Kendalem, Wondim, Amare
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Ethiopia; Hypothermia; Neonate; Newborn
• ISSN: 2214-1391; 2214-1391
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijans.2022.100428

Despite applying the thermal care principle recommended by WHO and though predisposing factors for neonatal hypothermia are easily preventable, the problem of neonatal hypothermia remains a challenge. Inconsistency of prevalence and associated factors among different studies has been observed through time. This study aimed to estimate the national pooled prevalence of neonatal hypothermia and its association with delayed initiations of breastfeeding and low birth weight in the Ethiopian context. Pub Med, Cochrane library, and Google Scholar databases were used for searching. In addition, reference lists of included studies and Ethiopian research repositories were used. Appropriate searching terms were used to retrieve studies from databases. Searching was limited to studies conducted in Ethiopia, published in the English language, and done with a design of cohort, cross-sectional, and case-control. Joanna Briggs Institute Meta-Analysis of Statistics Assessment and Review Instrument (JBI-MAStARI) was used for critical appraisal of studies. A weighted inverse variance random-effects- model was used. The I2 test statistics and Egger’s test were computed to test heterogeneity and publication bias respectively. Furthermore, sensitivity was conducted. In this systematic review and meta-analysis, a total of 5 studies with 1,790 study participants were included. The overall pooled prevalence of neonatal hypothermia in Ethiopia was found to be 62.68 % (95% CI; (54.66, 70.70). Delayed initiation of breastfeeding (OR: 3.26 (95% CI = 2.07, 5.13) and low birth weight (OR: 2.63 (95% CI = 1.37, 5.07)) were significantly associated with high odds of neonatal hypothermia. The overall prevalence of neonatal hypothermia in Ethiopia was high. Delayed initiation of breastfeeding and low birth weight were a predictor of neonatal hypothermia. Therefore, health workers who are working in the maternal, neonatal, and child health units need to adhere to the warm chain principle; particularly counseling caregivers about the initiation of early breastfeeding has to be improved.