Hypothermia among premature newborns on admission to a neonatal intensive care unit.

OBJECTIVE

To assess prevalence and factors associated with hypothermia in preterm infants admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit.

METHODS

It is a cross-sectional retrospective study, with 154 premature newborns admitted between 2017 and 2019 in a neonatal intensive care unit. Logistic regression was used to evaluate the association to hypothermia.

RESULTS

There was a predominance of males (55.8%), coming from the operating room (55.8%), gestational age > 32 weeks (71.4%), weight > 1500g (59.1%), Apgar in the 1st minute of life less than seven (51.9%) and in the 5th minute of life greater than or equal to seven (94.2%). The prevalence of hypothermia at admission was 68.2%. It was found that the lower the weight, the greater the chances of hypothermia, being three times higher in low weight (OR 3.480), five times higher in very low weight (OR5.845) and up to 47 times higher in extremely low weight (OR47.211).

CONCLUSION

Hypothermia was 68.2% and it was associated with lower birth weight.