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Background: The improvement of postnatal care has led to the increase in survival rate of preterm infants in our setting and considering their vulnerability, we set out to assess the morbidity and mortality of preterm infants 12 months after discharge from the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Methods: A retrospective cohort study was done from the 2008 to 2013 at the Yaoundé Gynaeco-Obstetric and Pediatric Hospital and included children born preterm, admitted in the NICU and discharged alive during the study period. Results: Out of 816 premature infants that were discharged alive from the NICU, only 232 (28.4%) preterm infants discharged alive presented for the routine visits during the first 12 months of life. Among these, 206 (89%) had at least one complication during the neonatal hospitalization period. Postnatal complications were significantly more frequent in infants born before 34 weeks of gestation and in babies with birth weight below 1500 grams (p<0.001). Up to 72.5% of those who came for routine visits were less than 34 weeks and 86% weighed <2000 g at birth. Seventy-six (32.7%) preterm infants were readmitted within their first year of life and the causes of readmission were respiratory tract diseases in 42 (55%), late neonatal sepsis in 19 (25.0%), malaria in 9 (11.8%) and epilepsy in 6 (7.9%). Neither the gestational age nor birth weight influenced readmission (p=0.25, p=0.590 respectively). The smaller the gestational age, the longer the duration of postnatal hospitalization (p<0.001). Conclusion: Routine follow-up after discharge remains a problem in our setting due to non-respect of appointments. Infants born preterm suffer mostly from respiratory tract diseases during the first year of life. Introduction Preterm birth remains a global problem especially in developing countries. It is a major determinant of neonatal mortality and morbidity1,2 and the morbidities associated with preterm often extend to later life, resulting in enormous physical, psychological and economic costs.3 With the increase in preterm birth rate, infants born at the lower limit of viability have the highest rates of all complications and the highest mortality rates.4,5 The mortality rate for preterm infants and the gestational age-specific mortality rate have dramatically improved over the last decades, due to improvement in postnatal care provided in delivery rooms and neonatal intensive care units. Despite these improvements infants born preterm remain vulnerable to a wide range of complications, not only in the neonatal period, but also in the long term.4,6 Recently interest has shifted from identifying the incidence of in hospital morbidity and mortality to long-term morbidities in childhood. In our setting the improvement of postnatal care has also led to the increase in survival rate of preterm infants.4,7 In the care of preterm infants, the immediate goal is survival; the ultimate goal is intact survival, which is survival without morbidity. Much is known on the outcome of preterm infants after discharge in developed Address for Correspondance: Daniel Armand Kago Tague, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaounde I, Cameroon. Gynaeco-Obstetrics and Pediatric Hospital, 4362 Route de Ngousso Yaounde –Cameroon. Email: kagog2@yahoo.fr ©2021 Pediatric Oncall ARTICLE HISTORY Received 21 February 2021 Accepted 2 April 2021

Post Discharge Outcome of Preterm Infants in a Low-Middle-Income Country