title: Epidemiological aspects of prematurity in the Eastern region of Saudi Arabia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the epidemiological characteristics of prematurity and survival rate in preterm infants diagnosed at a university hospital in the Eastern province of Saudi Arabia.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective study was carried out of 476 preterm infants who were admitted with the diagnosis of prematurity to King Fahd Hospital of the University, Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia, between June 2008 and 2013. Demographics, birth weight, and neonatal survival rate were analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Four hundred and seventy-six preterm infants were admitted with a total prevalence of 7.5%. Descriptive analysis revealed 55% were males. Extremely preterm infants (less than 28 weeks' gestation) comprised 9% and very preterm infants (28 to less than 32 weeks' gestation) comprised 20%. Extremely low-birth-weight (ELBW) infants (less than 1000 g) comprised 11%. One hundred and fifty-seven (32%) infants were small for gestational age. Out of the total number of ELBW infants, 58% of them were discharged. The overall mortality was 7.6%. The mortality rate of male infants was 53%. The survival to discharge according to gestational age ranged from 30-97.6%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The estimated prevalence of preterm births in a university hospital in eastern province of Saudi Arabia, is consistent with various studies from different parts of the world.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, King Fahd Hospital of the University, University of Dammam, Dammam, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. E-mail. faisal.alqurashi@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Faisal O
authors.initials: FO
authors.lastname: Al-Qurashi
authors.forename: Abdullah A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Yousef
authors.forename: Bassam H
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Awary
mesh_terms: D001724:Birth Weight; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D062071:Infant, Extremely Premature; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007236:Infant, Small for Gestational Age; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D047928:Premature Birth / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012529:Saudi Arabia / Q000453:epidemiology; D015996:Survival Rate