Study to correlate the parental judgement of neonatal jaundice using clinical and biochemical profile

TL;DR

This study shows that educated mothers and those with prior experience can accurately recognize and assess neonatal jaundice, leading to quicker hospital visits.

Contribution

The study demonstrates a correlation between maternal recognition of jaundice and clinical assessment accuracy.

Findings

Educated mothers and urban residents recognized jaundice earlier and graded it similarly to clinicians.

81% of babies reached the hospital within 72 hours, likely due to timely maternal recognition.

Maternal awareness and prior experience significantly influenced the timing of hospital presentation.

Abstract

Neonatal jaundice is very common, affecting about 60-80% of newborns, yet delay in recognition still leads to preventable complications.
In our study of 500 babies, most were males from rural background and middle or upper-lower socioeconomic class, with 81% reaching hospital
within 72 hours. Educated mothers, those from urban homes or with previous history of neonatal jaundice, noticed yellow discolouration earlier
and graded jaundice almost similar to clinicians, leading to faster presentation. Thus, we show the accuracy of maternal recognition and
grading of neonatal jaundice correlates with clinical assessment and timing of presentation.