Participant characteristics and pulse oximetry use among children (<15 years of age) and neonates (≤28 days of age) at 12 secondary-level hospitals in south-west Nigeria (January 2014–April 2017)
| Preintervention | Pulse oximetry | Full oxygen system | |
| January 2014–October 2015 | November 2015–step | Step–April 2017 | |
| Participant characteristics | |||
| Total admissions | 23 401 | 8856 | 6268 |
| Neonate (%) | 8799 (37.6) | 2681 (30.3) | 2260 (36.1) |
| Infant (%) | 4418 (18.9) | 1887 (21.3) | 1124 (17.9) |
| Young child (%) | 7704 (32.9) | 3068 (34.6) | 1952 (31.1) |
| Older child (%) | 2480 (10.6) | 1220 (13.8) | 932 (14.9) |
| Sex, female:male (% female) | 10 313:13 246 (43.8) | 3804:5039 (43.0) | 2804:3459 (44.8) |
| Neonate | 3842:4866 (44.1) | 1162:1508 (43.5) | 977:1280 (43.3) |
| Infant | 1911:2495 (43.4) | 812:1074 (43.1) | 536:588 (47.7) |
| Young child | 3319:4359 (43.2) | 1288:1779 (42.0) | 878:1070 (45.1) |
| Older child | 1124:1355 (45.3) | 541:678 (44.4) | 413:519 (44.3) |
| Median length of stay, days (IQR) | 4 (2–6) | 4 (2–6) | 4 (2–7) |
| Neonate | 4 (2–8) | 5 (3–7) | 5 (3–9) |
| Infant | 4 (2–6) | 4 (2–5) | 4 (2–7) |
| Young child | 3 (2–5) | 3 (2–5) | 3 (2–6) |
| Older child | 4 (2–6) | 3 (2–5) | 4 (2–7) |
| Diagnosis, neonate (%) | |||
| Neonatal sepsis | 3921 (45.8) | 1547 (58.1) | 1075 (48.0) |
| Birth asphyxia | 3444 (40.3) | 955 (35.9) | 884 (39.5) |
| Jaundice | 2002 (23.4) | 723 (27.2) | 459 (20.5) |
| RDS/aspiration | 277 (3.2) | 101 (3.8) | 53 (2.4) |
| Small/preterm | 1458 (20.1) | 524 (22.3) | 423 (21.0) |
| Preterm | 1286 (21.6) | 489 (23.5) | 388 (22.1) |
| Small (<2000 g) | 814 (13.8) | 255 (13.2) | 231 (14.2) |
| LBW (1500–2000 g) | 530 (9.0) | 161 (8.3) | 136 (8.3) |
| VLBW (1000–1500 g) | 234 (4.0) | 72 (3.7) | 70 (4.3) |
| ELBW (<1000 g) | 50 (0.9) | 22 (1.1) | 25 (1.5) |
| Diagnosis, child (%) | |||
| Malaria | 5146 (41.3) | 2242 (36.9) | 1515 (37.8) |
| Sepsis | 4062 (29.7) | 2212 (36.0) | 1153 (29.1) |
| Diarrhoea | 1719 (13.8) | 920 (15.1) | 478 (11.9) |
| Pneumonia | 1855 (14.9) | 734 (12.1) | 539 (13.5) |
| Malnutrition | 210 (8.4) | 129 (9.9) | 92 (10.1) |
| HIV/AIDS | 18 (0.1) | 8 (0.1) | 4 (0.1) |
| Pulse oximetry use | |||
| SpO2 documented on admission (%) | 704 (3.0) | 5868 (66.3) | 5946 (94.8) |
| Neonate (%) | 218 (2.5) | 1829 (68.2) | 2122 (93.9) |
| Infant (%) | 104 (2.4) | 1172 (62.1) | 1075 (95.6) |
| Young child (%) | 273 (3.5) | 1962 (64.0) | 1853 (94.9) |
| Older child (%) | 104 (4.2) | 905 (74.2) | 894 (95.9) |
Notes: Neonate ≤28 days, infant 29 days−11 months, young child 1–4 years, older child 5–14 years. Neonatal diagnoses based on recorded admission diagnosis and recorded admission weight and gestational age. Child diagnoses based on case definition, except for sepsis and HIV/AIDS (recorded admission diagnosis).
Step=hospitals were randomised to receive the full intervention beginning at one of four stepped time points (March 2016, July 2016, November 2016, March 2017).
ELBW, extremely low birth weight (<1000 grams); LBW, low birth weight (1500 to 1999 grams); RDS, respiratory distress syndrome; SpO2, oxygen saturation; VLBW, very low birth weight (1000 to 1499 grams).