RED CELL DISTRIBUTION WIDTH AS A MARKER FOR EARLY ONSET NEONATAL SEPSIS – A CROSS SECTIONAL STUDY

Abstract

Neonatal sepsis is a major cause of mortality, morbidity worldwide. A number of biochemical markers have been tested for accurate diagnosis of sepsis in the shortest time. Hence, this study was carried out to investigate the potential role of Red cell Distribution Width (RDW) as a marker of early onset neonatal sepsis. This hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted in 144 Neonates born to high risk mothers for developing early neonatal sepsis. Data was analyzed for correlation between all explanatory variables and sepsis.10.4% (n=15) of the study population had positive blood cultures. The mean RDW was 21.13 ± 1.56 in sepsis group whereas 13.57 ± 2.41 in neonates without sepsis. This difference between two groups was statistically signicant (p <0.001) revealing RDW as risk factor for neonatal sepsis (p = 0.014) RDW is an independent predictor of neonatal sepsis.