Magnitude Of Low Fifth Minute Apgar Score And Associated Factors Among Newborn Baby Delivered At Public Hospitals In Ambo Town, West Shoa, Ethiopia

Abstract

Background:-The Apgar score, is a critical tool for assessing the health of new born immediately after birth, its clinical condition at 1st, 5th, and 10th minutes. low fifth minute Apgar score is associated with many factors like obstetrics condition, maternal factors, neonatal factors and intrapartum factors which linked to increased risks of neonatal mortality, neurologic disability, and long term cognitive impairment. Objective: To assess the magnitude of low fifth minute Apgar score And Its Associated Factors among New Born Baby Delivered at public hospitals in Ambo Town, 2025 Methods: A facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted at public hospitals in Ambo Town. Descriptive statistics were used to describe frequencies, percentages, means, and standard deviations. Bivariable analysis was conducted using logistic regression to select candidate variables, with a p-value < 0.25 a candidate for multivariable analysis. Variables with a p-value < 0.05 in multivariable analysis were considered statistically significant. Result: This study revealed that the magnitude of a low fifth-minute Apgar score was 103 (29.6%) (95% CI: 0.25, 0.34). Independent factors such as lower maternal educational level (AOR= 0.03; 95% CI: 0.02, 0.20) lack of antenatal care (AOR= 0.60; 95% CI: 0.01, 1.03), anemia during pregnancy (AOR = 0.15; 95% CI: 0.07, 0.33), and pregnancy-induced hypertension (AOR = 0.06; 99.9% CI: 0.02, 0.18) were found to have significant associations with the occurrence of low Apgar scores. Conclusion: This study result shows that one third of the neonates had low fifth minute Apgar score and the results of this study associated with lower maternal education, lack of antenatal care, anemia during pregnancy, and pregnancy-induced hypertension. Interventions like improve maternal education, Encourage ANC follow up, management of anemia, and control of pregnancy induced hypertension may help to reduce the magnitude of low 5th-minute Apgar scores and improve overall birth outcomes.