Effects of Environmental Crude Oil Pollution on Newborn Birth Outcomes: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Abstract

Background The World Health Organization encourages countries to improve birth outcomes to reduce rates of neonatal mortality and morbidity. Purpose This study was designed to examine the effect of environmental crude oil pollution on newborn birth outcomes in Rivers State, Nigeria. Methods A retrospective cohort design was used to examine the effects of exposure to oil pollution on birth outcomes using facility-based records. K-Dere (an oil-polluted community) served as the exposure group, whereas birth records from Iriebe served as the comparison group. A sample size of 338 systematically selected birth records was examined (169 records for each arm of the study). A data extraction sheet was used for data collection. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics at p