Study of illness in preterms – SIP multicenter study
Principal investigator: Lulu Muhe1


Site Co-Principal investigator: Netsanet Workneh2


Co-investigators: Alemseged Abdissa2, Beza Eshetu2, Workineh Tesfaye2, Tsinuel Girma2, Wu-bishet Girma2, Mesele bezabih2, Alemu Gemta2, Addisu Alemu2, Mulatu Gashaw2 , Ararsa Ho-resa2, Gosa Simole2,
Collaborating institutions: 1) Addis Ababa University 2) Jimma University and 3) Gonder Univer-sity


Background, objective and methods: Preterm birth is a major determinant of neonatal mortality and morbidity and has long-term adverse consequences for health. Among problems of preterm babies, it is not known which conditions contribute to the higher proportion of preterm mortali-ty. The availability of such data could facilitate the development of a holistic approach to the clinical management of preterm babies in low resource settings, planning and ensuring quality care targeting the common causes of death at primary and potentially community levels of the health system. The study is a prospective multi-centred descriptive study. Detailed clinical vari-ables as well as laboratory and post-mortem findings are recorded in a standardized manner. For those preterm infants who die, post-mortem examinations will be done to determine the cause of death. This will give the causes of mortality of preterm infants. The documented clinical parameters will be compared to autopsy findings to improve the clinical algorithms.