title: Intra-partum fever and cerebral palsy in Khartoum, Sudan.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Cerebral palsy (CP) is a major cause of childhood disability. There are various maternal and neonatal predictors associated with the development of CP, and they are variable across different populations. This case-control study was designed to investigate maternal and neonatal predictors of CP at Khartoum pediatric neurology clinics. Data (maternal sociodemographic characteristics and neonatal expected predictors) were collected from mothers of children with CP and healthy controls using questionnaires.
  
  
  RESULTS
  One hundred and eleven cases of CP and 222 controls were included. Spastic CP was the most common type (69.4%). In logistic regression, maternal age, parity, birth weight, and sex were not associated with CP. However, maternal fever (OR = 8.4, CI = 2.3-30.5; P = 0.001), previous neonatal death (OR = 5.4, CI = 1.8-16.2; P = 0.003), and poor sucking (OR = 30.5, CI = 10.0-93.1; P < 0.001) were predictors of CP.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Fever during labor is a significant risk factor for developing CP in children. Further efforts are required for labor management to prevent CP in this setting.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Khartoum, Khartoum, Sudan.
authors.forename: Hala
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Abdullahi
authors.forename: Mohamed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Satti
authors.forename: Duria A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Rayis
authors.forename: Abdulmutalab M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Imam
authors.forename: Ishag
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Adam
mesh_terms: D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002547:Cerebral Palsy / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D005334:Fever / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007743:Labor, Obstetric; D008297:Male; D009035:Mothers; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D007744:Obstetric Labor Complications; D011247:Pregnancy; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012923:Social Class; D013397:Sudan; D016896:Treatment Outcome