Objective: To determine the incidence of hospital readmissions, the etiologies, and to analyze the risk factors for readmissions of Late Preterm infants (LPI) and term infants (TI) in the neonatal period. Methods: It was a retrospective cohort study conducted at Nice Hospital for Women and Children, Hyderabad, India. The study protocol was approved by the institutional ethics committee. Late preterm and TIs > 34 weeks of gestational age (GA), discharged alive either from the post-natal ward or NICU were included in the study. Neonates with congenital anomalies, who died before discharge, and who were readmitted >28 days of age were excluded from this study. The relevant demographic, antenatal, perinatal and neonatal data of the study infants as well as their mothers were recorded in the pre-designed proforma. Mann Whitney U test and Chi square tests were used for statistical analysis. A p value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: A total of 1396 (100%) neonates were included in this study. Thirty-eight (2.72%) of the LPIs were readmitted and 3.87% (54) were in the TI category. When neonatal characteristics were compared, statistically significant difference was seen in both categories in birth weight, jaundice requiring phototherapy, sepsis and time to full feeding respectively. Poor weight gain was the leading cause of readmission in both categories; though not statistically significant. Maximum LPIs (23) and TIs (36) were admitted in the monsoon; though statistically no significant difference was observed. Conclusion: Poor weight gain, respiratory infection, jaundice, poor feeding/lethargy and feeding difficulty/vomiting were identified as reasons for readmission. Metacentric studies with a large sample size are recommended.

Objective: To determine the incidence of hospital readmissions, the etiologies, and to analyze the risk factors for readmissions of Late Preterm infants (LPI) and term infants (TI) in the neonatal period. Methods: It was a retrospective cohort study conducted at Nice Hospital for Women and Children, Hyderabad, India. The study protocol was approved by the institutional ethics committee. Late preterm and TIs > 34 weeks of gestational age (GA), discharged alive either from the post-natal ward or NICU were included in the study. Neonates with congenital anomalies, who died before discharge, and who were readmitted >28 days of age were excluded from this study. The relevant demographic, antenatal, perinatal and neonatal data of the study infants as well as their mothers were recorded in the pre-designed proforma. Mann Whitney U test and Chi square tests were used for statistical analysis. A p value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: A total of 1396 (100%) neonates were included in this study. Thirty-eight (2.72%) of the LPIs were readmitted and 3.87% (54) were in the TI category. When neonatal characteristics were compared, statistically significant difference was seen in both categories in birth weight, jaundice requiring phototherapy, sepsis and time to full feeding respectively. Poor weight gain was the leading cause of readmission in both categories; though not statistically significant. Maximum LPIs (23) and TIs (36) were admitted in the monsoon; though statistically no significant difference was observed. Conclusion: Poor weight gain, respiratory infection, jaundice, poor feeding/lethargy and feeding difficulty/vomiting were identified as reasons for readmission. Metacentric studies with a large sample size are recommended.