Risk of respiratory distress syndrome in preterm neonates born to mothers who receivec antenatal dexamethasone between 2 weeks 0 days and 33 weeks days at kawempe national referral hospital

Abstract

Introduction: Respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) is a serious complication of preterm birth and is the main cause of perinatal mortality. Corticosteroids have reported to have a positive effect on the mother and fetus with minimal secondary ill effects because they bind to 75 to 80% of alveolar glucocorticoid receptors, sufficient to stimulate lung function. However, mothers should be given full course of glucocorticoids for them to be protected from the risk of RDS. This study aimed at determining whether a partial course of dexamethasone is protective of RDS and to determine obstetric factors associated with RDS among preterm neonates. Methods: This was a case-control study conducted at Kawempe National Referral Hospital. Data was collected from preterm neonates born at (26W0D and 33W6D) admitted in the NICU with RDS as cases and those without RDS as controls and thereafter establish the exposure status (whether their mothers received partial or full dose of dexamethasone). The sample size of the study was 375 which included 125 case patients and 250 matched controls. Data was analyzed using STATA version 15. Association between variables was established using logistic regression analysis, the measure of association wask odds ratio at 95% level of confidence interval. Results: The average age of the respondents was 26.13 (±4.95) and majority were married 313 (83.47%). Only 20 (5.33%) mothers (for both cases and controls) were given a full course of dexamethasone as majority 194 (51.73%) were given only one dose. After adjusting for potential cofounders, RDS was found to be significantly associated with partial courses of dexamethasone (AOR=2.31, P-Value 0.031). The risk of RDS was also found to be high in preterm neonates who were twin deliveries (AOR=5.3, P-value