Determinants of neonatal jaundice among neonates admitted to neonatal intensive care unit in hospitals of Gurage zone, Southern Ethiopia

Introduction Neonatal jaundice is the discoloration of the skin, sclera, and mucosa resulting from an excessive accumulation of bilirubin within the tissue and plasma. Every year, around 1.1 million newborn babies worldwide experience severe hyperbilirubinemia and the majority reside in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Evidences on determinants of neonatal jaundice are limited in Ethiopia, particularly in our study area. Objective To identify the determinants of neonatal jaundice among neonates admitted to neonatal intensive care unit in hospitals of Gurage zone, Southern Ethiopia, 2022. Method Hospital-based unmatched retrospective case-control study was employed by reviewing one-year medical record of neonates from June 1, 2021 to May 30, 2022 in Gurage zone selected hospitals. The sample size was calculated by using Epi Info version 7 and study participants were selected by using a simple random sampling technique. Data were collected through a data extraction format. The data was entered using Epi data version 3.2 and exported to SPSS version 25 for analysis. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analysis were employed at 95% confidence interval for the existence of the association. P-value < 0.05 was used to identify the level of statistical significance. Result In this study, 375 neonatal medical charts which includes 125 cases and 250 controls were input into the data analysis process. Neonatal sepsis (AOR: 2.38; with 95% CI: 1.35-4.17), cephalic hematoma (AOR: 4.92; with 95% CI: 2.61-9.26), polycythemia (AOR: 3.60; with 95% CI: 2.03-6.34), prematurity (AOR: 4.57; 95% CI: 2.45-8.49), birth asphyxia (AOR: 2.26; 95% CI: 1.27-4.02), and breastfeeding (AOR: 5.35; 95% CI: 1.90-15.0) were the determinants of NNJ. Conclusion This study identifies preterm birth, newborn polycythemia, birth asphyxia, neonatal sepsis, breastfeeding, and cephalic hematoma as significant determinant factors in neonatal jaundice.