Diagnostic Accuracy of CRIB II Scoring in Predicting Neonatal Mortality in Preterm Neonates

Background: Preterm birth remains one of the leading causes of infant mortality in the world and mostly in settings where resources are limited. High-risk infants need to be identified at an early age to be intervened upon and achieve improved outcomes. One of the most common and easy to use ways of predicting the early death of preterm babies is the Clinical Risk Index of Babies II (CRIB II) score. Objective: The objective of the study is to determine the predictive value of CRIB II grading system in predicting the newborn mortality in preterm babies. Methods: This prospective observational cohort study was conducted in a tertiary care NICU. There were 120 preterm neonates (≤32 weeks gestation) who were hospitalized in less than 24 hours. CRIB II scores were created using gestational age, birth weight, sex, admission temperature and base excess. Babies were kept track of until they got away or died. Diagnostic accuracy was evaluated by the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis that entails sensitivity, specificity, and the area under the curve (AUC). Findings: 31.7% of people died. The mean CRIB II score (10.2 +- 2.1 vs. 5.8 +- 1.9, p < 0.001) of the non-survivors was significantly higher than that of the survivors. The CRIB II score had good predictive ability with an AUC of 0.86 (95% CI: 0.79-0.92). The cut-off value of >7 gave a sensitivity of 73.7% and specificity of 85.4%. Conclusion: The routine use of CRIB II in NICU settings for early risk stratification is supported by the tool's strong diagnostic accuracy and dependability in predicting neonatal mortality in preterm neonates.