Risk Factors for Neonatal Mortality in Preterm Newborns in The Extreme South of Brazil

Neonatal mortality still remains a complex challenge to be addressed. In Brazil, 60% of neonatal deaths occur among preterm infants with a gestational age of 32 weeks or less (≤32w). The aim of this study was to evaluate the factors involved in the high mortality rates among newborns with a gestational age ≤32w in a socioeconomically developed southern city in Brazil. Data on retrospective births and deaths (2000–2014) were analyzed from two official Brazilian national databases. The risk of neonatal death for all independent variables (mother’s age and schooling, prenatal visits, birth hospital, delivery method, gestational age, and the newborn’s sex, age, and birth year, gemelarity, congenital anomalies and birthplace) was assessed with a univariable and a multivariable model of Cox’s semiparametric proportional hazards regression (p