Table 7

Multivariate regression with logarithmic transformation for length of stay for 953 hospitalised neonates in Eritrea, 2006

	Coefficient	SE	95% CI	p Value
Gestation age (weeks)	−0.10	0.03	−0.15 to 0.04	<0.01*
Days of life at admission	−0.005	0.006	−0.016 to 0.007	0.73
Birth weight (kg)
≤2	0.79	0.22	0.36 to 1.23	<0.01*
>2 to ≤2.5	0.31	0.19	−0.07 to 0.69	0.11
>2.5 to ≤3.0	0.12	0.10	−0.08 to 0.32	0.26
>3	−0.06	0.09	−0.25 to 0.12	051
Apgar score (1 min)	0.04	0.09	−0.15 to 0.2	0.70
Apgar score (5 min)	0.15	0.09	−0.04 to 0.33	0.11
Female gender	−0.03	0.06	−0.15 to 0.09	0.60
Cesarian section	0.11	0.08	−0.04 to 0.27	0.15
Small for gestational age	0.16	0.18	−0.54 to 0.08	<0.01*
Maternal age	0.007	0.005	−0.003 to 0.018	0.19
Hospital birth	−0.09	0.09	−0.28 to 0.09	0.31
Hypothermia	0.09	0.09	−0.08 to 0.271	0.33
Pneumonia	0.49	0.08	0.33 to 0.65	<0.01*

Regression analysis demonstrated that lower gestational age, lower birth weight (<2.0 kg), small for gestational age and pneumonia were associated with increased duration of hospitalisation. Younger maternal age, Apgar scores, hospital birth, female gender, cesarian section and hypothermia were not also associated with prolonged hospitalisation (*p≤0.05, significant).