Factors Associated with the Occurrence of Death Outcome in Children with Neonatal Respiratory Distress Syndrome

Neonatal respiratory distress syndrome (NRDS) is a consequence of immaturity at birth and it is still associated with relatively high mortality rate. The aim of this study was to identify the factors associated with the occurrence of fatal outcome in newborns with neonatal respiratory distress syndrome.The research was designed as a case-control study nested in a retrospective cohort, and it enrolled newborns treated during 2015 at Pediatric Clinic of Clinical Center in Kragujevac. Diagnosis of NRDS and decision about the treatment were left at the discretion of attending pediatricians. The cases were patients with fatal outcome, while controls were randomly selected from the pool of survivors and matched with each case by gender in a ratio of 4:1. The study included 371 newborns, of whom 201 (54.2%) were male and 170 (45.8%) female. Lethal outcome occurred in 36 newborns (9,7%). Significant association was found between death and APGAR score (OR_adjusted: 0.516, 95% CI: 0.322-0.827), weight on delivery (OR_adjusted: 0.996, 95% CI: 0.993-0.999), duration of hospitalization (OR_adjusted: 0.901, 95% CI: 0.835-0.972) and mechanical ventilation (OR_adjusted: 165.256, 95% CI: 7.616-3585.714). Higher gestational age, higher birth weight, higher APGAR score and longer duration of hospitalization were singled out as protective factors, while use of mechanical ventilation increased the risk of death. Major limitations of the study were retrospective nature and relatively small number of identified cases. Postponing delivery and delivery in institution with neonatal intensive care unit are crucial for survival of newborns with NRDS.