Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2009 Mar;29(3):243-9.
doi: 10.1038/jp.2008.192. Epub 2008 Nov 27.

Birth asphyxia survivors in a developing country

D R Halloran  1 , E McClure, H Chakraborty, E Chomba, L L Wright, W A Carlo
Affiliations

Birth asphyxia survivors in a developing country

D R Halloran et al. J Perinatol. 2009 Mar.

Abstract

Objective: Determine the baseline incidence of birth asphyxia in neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) survivors in a developing country and the early neurodevelopmental outcomes of such infants.

Study design: This cross-sectional, prospective study collected diagnostic and examination findings on all infants seen in the University of Zambia NICU follow-up clinic over a 4-week period.

Result: Of the 182 infants, 42 (23%) had a clinical diagnosis of birth asphyxia. Of 42 infants with birth asphyxia, 13 (31%) had an abnormal neurologic examination during the clinic visit; in contrast, 13 of 141 infants without birth asphyxia (9%) had an abnormal examination (odds ratio 4.4, 95% confidence interval: 1.8, 10.4).

Conclusion: Birth asphyxia survivors account for almost a quarter of NICU survivors in a developing country and half of those with an abnormal neurologic examination. Studies are necessary to determine the percent of birth asphyxia survivors who have permanent motor and cognitive disabilities.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of interest/Disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Neurologic examination findings for infants with and without a clinical diagnosis of birth asphyxia.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Lawn JE, Cousens S, Zupan J. Lancet Neonatal Survival Steering Team. 4 million neonatal deaths: when? Where? Why? Lancet. 2005;365:891–900. - PubMed
    1. Jones G, Steketee RW, Black RE, Zulfigar AB, Morris SS. Bellagio Child Survival Study Group. How many child deaths can we prevent this year? Lancet. 2003;362:65–71. - PubMed
    1. Bryce J, Boschi-Pinto C, Shibuya K, Black RE WHO Child Health Epidemiology Reference Group. WHO estimates of the causes of death in children. Lancet. 2005;365:1147–1152. - PubMed
    1. Kinoti SS. Asphyxia of the newborn in East, Central, and Southern Africa. East Af Med J. 1993;70:422–433. - PubMed
    1. Simon NP. Long-term neurodevelopmental outcome of asphyxiated newborns. Resuscitation Fetus Newborn. 1999;26:767–778. - PubMed

Publication types