EARLY NEONATAL NEAR MISS IN A UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL: COMPARATIVE CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

OBJECTIVE To compare 2012 and 2016 data on early neonatal near miss indicators from Health Information Systems at a university hospital. METHODS This is a cross-sectional study conducted in 2012 and 2016. We considered early neonatal near misses the live births that presented one of the following risk conditions at birth: gestational age <33 weeks, birth weight <1,750g or 5-minute Apgar score <7, or Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) admission, and were alive until the 7th day of life. Data were collected from the Live Birth Information System, Hospital Information System, and Mortality Information System. We calculated the early neonatal mortality rate, neonatal near miss rate, severe neonatal outcome rate, early neonatal survival index, and early neonatal mortality index, compared by year of birth. RESULTS In 2012, 304 early neonatal near misses were registered, with a higher proportion of cases with very low birth weight and mothers who had zero to three prenatal visits. In 2016, the number of cases was 243, with a predominance of more NICU admissions. The incidence of early neonatal deaths and early neonatal near misses was higher in 2012 than in 2016. CONCLUSIONS Neonatal near miss indicators identified difference between years. The cases were more severe in 2012 and there were more NICU admissions in 2016.