JUDGING THE BURDEN OF MORBIDITIES IN RURAL CHILDREN AT INDIAN HEALTHCARE CENTERS

Abstract

Background: In the majority of neonates from developing nations, the birth and development of neonates is done in rural backgrounds. However, the literature data is scarce concerning the assessment of the burden of morbidities in rural children at Indian healthcare centers.
Aim: The present study aimed to assess the incidence of various morbidities in the neonates of rural areas along with associated case fatalities in rural neonates that are home-cared for. The study also assessed neonates with indications for health care and the subjects that received the healthcare.
Methods: The study assessed neonates by trained female village healthcare workers at birth and in the neonatal period of 0 to 28 days through 8 visits at home. The data was checked by a
physician expert in the field and to assess morbidities, a computer program was used. The data gathered was statistically assessed.
Results: Among 508 live births, 95% of births were at home and a total of 75% (n=381)
neonates were assessed. The agreement in the observations of physicians and healthcare workers was 92%. High-risk morbidities were seen in 48.03% (n=183) neonates with a case fatality of >10%. Inadequate weight of <300 grams and low-risk morbidities were seen in 17.9% and 72.2% of subjects respectively. Clinical features of sepsis were seen in 17% of subjects. 54% of subjects needed healthcare and 19 neonates died among these 20 with only 2% getting medical attention. The rate of neonatal mortality was 52.4/1000 live births.