Feasibility of using an Early Warning Score for preterm or low birthweight infants in a low-resource setting: Results of a mixed-methods study at a national referral hospital in Kenya

Mitchell, Eleanor J; Qureshi, Zahida; Were, Fredrick; Daniels, Jane; Gwako, George; Osoti, Alfred; Opira, Jacqueline; Bradshaw, Lucy; Oliver, Mary; Pallotti, Phoebe; Ojha, Shalini

Abstract

© 2020 BMJ Publishing Group. All rights reserved.
Introduction Fifteen million babies are born prematurely, before 37 weeks gestational age, globally. More than 80% of these are in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. 35% of all deaths in the first month of life are due to prematurity and the neonatal mortality rate is eight times higher in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) than in Europe. Early Warning Scores (EWS) are a way of recording vital signs using standardised charts to easily identify adverse clinical signs and escalate care appropriately. A range of EWS have been developed for neonates, though none in LMICs. This paper reports the findings of early work to examine if the use of EWS is feasible in LMICs.

Methods We conducted an observational study to understand current practices for monitoring of preterm infants at a large national referral hospital in Nairobi, Kenya. Using hospital records, data were collected over an 8-week period in 2019 on all live born infants born at

Citation

Mitchell, E. J., Qureshi, Z., Were, F., Daniels, J., Gwako, G., Osoti, A., Opira, J., Bradshaw, L., Oliver, M., Pallotti, P., & Ojha, S. (2020). Feasibility of using an Early Warning Score for preterm or low birthweight infants in a low-resource setting: Results of a mixed-methods study at a national referral hospital in Kenya. BMJ Open, 10(10), Article e039061. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2020-039061

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Sep 22, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Oct 28, 2020
• Publication Date: Oct 28, 2020
• Deposit Date: Sep 24, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 28, 2020
• Journal: BMJ Open
• Electronic ISSN: 2044-6055
• Publisher: BMJ Publishing Group
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 10
• Issue: 10
• Article Number: e039061
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2020-039061
• Keywords: General Medicine
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/4923021
• Publisher URL: https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/10/10/e039061