Validity of C-reactive protein (CRP) for diagnosis of neonatal sepsis

OBJECTIVE To determine the validity of C-reactive protein levels for diagnosis of neonatal sepsis. METHODS A cross sectional (Validation) study was conducted at Neonatology unit in KRL general hospital (emergency/OPD) of 7 months duration from February 2012 to August 2012. By using purposive sampling technique, 147, sample size was calculated by using WHO sample size calculator taking sensitivity 75%, specificity 95%, expected prevalence 50%, desired precision 10% and confidence level 95%. RESULTS Mean age of the neonates was 5.72 days + 3.86. Male patients were 81(55.1%) while 66(44.9%) were female. Neonatal sepsis was observed in 43(29.25%) and were confirmed through blood culture while 104(70.75%) were not confirmed on blood culture as neonatal sepsis. The sensitivity and specificity of CRP in diagnosis of acute neonatal sepsis was 76.92% and 53.49% respectively while it had a positive predictive value of 80% and negative predictive value of 48.94%. Over all the diagnostic accuracy of CRP in diagnosis of neonatal sepsis was 70.07%. CONCLUSION CRP estimation does have a role in the diagnosis of neonatal sepsis but the test is not specific enough to be relied upon as the only indicator.