Clinical characteristics and socio-demographic differences in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Yelly Sari, Mohd B. Bahari and Baharudin Ibrahim
Yelly Oktavia Sari, Andalas University, Indonesia and Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM)
Mohd Baidi Bahari, Aimst University, Malaysia
Baharudin Ibrahim, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM)
Purpose: The objective of this study is to evaluate the clinical characteristics of the neonatal patients receiving total parenteral nutrition (TPN) and also to determine the socio-demographic differences in parenteral nutrition practices.
Design/methodology/approach: A two-year retrospective cross-sectional observational study design was selected to conduct this study. Subjects of this research were neonatal patients receiving TPN in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of Hospital Penang, Malaysia. A self-developed data collection form was used in this study, using a single data collector to avoid data collection bias. Data analysis was done via the Statistical Package for Social Science 15.0 (SPSS 15.0).
Findings: All of the 234 (100%) patients admitted to NICU Hospital Pulau Pinang were included in this study. Among them, the majority (123, 52.6%) were females and the rest (111, 47.4) were males. Ethnic distribution showed a predominance of Malay with 158 (67.5%), followed by Chinese 41 (17.5%), Indian 23 (9.8%) and 12 (5.1%) other races. Most patients (98, 41.8%) were born at 28-31 weeks of gestation and 156 (66.67%) were in the range of 1001-2000 grams. The majority of patients (91, 38.89%) were administered with TPN through the longline route, 173 (73.93%) were started in the range of Day 1 to Day 3 of life, 217 (92.7%) could not tolerate feeding and 51 (21.8%) had an infection. In conclusion, generally, the study found a lack of TPN screening and assessment practices in the study hospital. Appropriate practices are required to reduce the medical complications among neonates.
Keywords: TPN, Pediatrics, Clinical care, Parenteral nutrition
