Abstract:
Background: Socio-economic factors, especially family income significantly impacts on neonatal
health outcomes worldwide. Low-income families face barriers to receive quality neonatal care,
leading to disparities in their health outcomes. In Sri Lanka, relationship between family income
and neonatal care or health outcomes remains inadequately studied, highlighting the need for more
focused studies in this area.
Objective: To determine the association of family income with the clinical profile and health
outcomes of neonates admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)s of selected hospitals
in Galle, Sri Lanka
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among conveniently selected 104 neonates
admitted to selected NICUs in Galle, using a data collection guide. Data on family income (low,
middle, high), clinical profile (gestational age, mode of delivery, intrauterine growth restriction,
NICU stay, antibiotic usage), and health outcomes (feeding status, developmental milestones)
were collected through hospital records. Descriptive statistics and Chi-square test were used for
data analysis.
Results: The majority were preterm (67.3%), with a mean±SD gestational age of 34±3.7 weeks,
and 75% were delivered via cesarean section. Among the neonates, 41.3% belonged to low, 48.1%
to middle and 10.6% to high levels of family income. The majority of neonates (51.9%) had a
NICU stay of less than seven days and 90.4% received antibiotics. At discharge, most neonates
were breastfed (97.1%), sucked orally (63.5%) and most achieved development milestones:
cognitive (92.3%), motor (95.2%), psychosocial (94.2%), and communication (91.4%). No
significant associations were found between family income, and gestational age (p=0.621), mode
of delivery (p=0.298), intrauterine growth restriction (p=0.392), NICU stay (p=0.806), antibiotic
usage (p=0.829), feeding type (p=0.607), developmental milestones: cognitive (p=0.153), motor
(p=0.524), psychosocial (p=0.846), communication (p=0.465) at discharge.
Conclusion: There is no significant association between family income and clinical profile or
health outcomes of neonates. The findings indicate that neonatal critical healthcare in the studied
NICUs in Sri Lanka is equitably accessible, irrespective of family income.
