Outcome of preterm twins compared to preterm singleton neonates, a multicenter prospective observational study in Ethiopia

Background: In recent decades there has been a major increase in multiple birth rates, and the rate of twining vary from 6-9 per thousand life births to 20 per thousand live births across differ-ent areas of the world. Many studies have demonstrated higher neonatal and perinatal mortality and morbidity rates in twin deliveries compared to singleton births. This study was aimed to com-pare the outcomes of preterm twins and preterm singletons.Methods: A prospective, observational multicenter study was conducted from July 2016 to May 2018 in five tertiary hospitals in Ethiopia. All preterm, liveborn infants born at or transferred at less than 7 days of life to one of the study hospitals with an estimated gestational age below 37 weeks were included.Results: A total of 3,703 preterm neonates admitted to participating neonatal intensive care units were included in the study, of which 1171(31.6%) were twins. After adjusting for birth weight and gestational age, the mortality rate for preterm singletons of 31.0% was higher than the mortality rate for preterm twins of 24.8%, which was statistically significant (p-value = 0.001), OR of 1.37 (95% CI: 1.15 to 1.64). The study also identified an inverse relationship between birth weight and gestational age, and mortality. Male singletons were more likely to die than male twins (440 (32.4%) vs. 141 (23.4%); AOR 1.56 (95% CI: 1.22, 1.99); p=0.001)Conclusion: Our study showed that the mortality of a singleton preterm infant was significantly higher than the mortality of a preterm twin infant