Hormozgan Med J. 2020 March; 24(1):e94453. Published online 2020 March 1. doi: 10.5812/hmj.94453. Research Article Prevalence of Hypoglycemia and Hypocalcemia Among High-Risk Infants in the Neonatal Ward of Fatemieh Hospital of Hamadan in 2016 - 2017 Mohammad Kazem Sabzehei 1, * , Marzieh Otogara 2, ** , Samira Ahmadi 2 , Fariba Daneshvar 2 , Maryam Shabani 2 , Saeedeh Samavati 2 , Someyeh Hosseinirad 2 and Nasrin Shirmohammadi-Khorram 3 1 Department of Pediatric, Faculty of Medicine, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran 2 Clinical Research Development Unit of Fatemieh Hospital, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran 3 Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran * Corresponding author: Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran. Email: mk_sabzehei@yahoo.com ** Corresponding author: Clinical Research Development Unit of Fatemieh Hospital, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran. Email: m_otogara@yahoo.com Received 2019 May 25; Revised 2020 January 12; Accepted 2020 February 04. Abstract Background: Hypoglycemia and hypocalcemia are common metabolic disorders in high-risk infants that may cause serious com- plications in case of late diagnosis. Objectives: This study intended to determine the prevalence of hypoglycemia and hypocalcemia among high-risk infants. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on all the infants prone to hypoglycemia and hypocalcemia admitted to the neona- tal ward of Fatemieh Hospital in Hamadan from September 2016 to October 2017. If infants’ blood glucose was less than 40 mg/dL within the first four hours after birth and less than 45 mg/dL within 4 - 24 hours after birth, they were diagnosed with hypoglycemi. If their blood calcium was less than 7 and 8 mg/dL in preterm and full-term infants, respectively, within 12 - 24 hours after birth, they were diagnosed with hypocalcemia. Results: A total of 883 infants participated in this study. The prevalence of hypoglycemia and hypocalcemia was 39.1% and 1.8%, respectively. The mean birth weight was 2124.1 ± 272.8 g, and the gestational age was 35 ± 1.88 weeks. Hypoglycemia had a significant relationship with preterm birth (P = 0.002), lower mean birth weight (P = 0.001), and low Apgar score at 1 and 5 minutes after birth (P < 0.05). Hypocalcemia had a significant relationship with small for gestational age (SGA) (P = 0.007), lower mean birth weight (P = 0.025), and low Apgar score at one and five minutes after birth (P < 0.05). Conclusions: It is recommended to measure blood glucose and blood calcium in high-risk infants, including infants of diabetic mothers (IDMs), preterm infants, and infants with lower birth weight (LBW), SGA, and low Apgar score at one and five minutes after birth. Keywords: Hypoglycemia, Hypocalcemia, Infants, Risk Factors 1. Background Hypoglycemia is a common neonatal metabolic dis- order that is more prevalent in high-risk infants includ- ing IDMs, Small for gestational age (SGA) infants, asphyxia, and preterm infants. Infants with hypoglycemia are often asymptomatic or have nonspecific symptoms that are dif- ficult to diagnose. The plasma glucose level in the umbilical vein consists of 80% of mothers’ blood sugar. After cutting the umbili- cal cord, the transfer of glucose and other nutrients to the infant suddenly stops. Subsequently, glucose drops to its nadir level in infants within 1 - 3 hours after birth, however, it spontaneously increases and reaches a steady state 3 - 4 hours after birth (1-5). Hypoglycemia may be considered a metabolic disorder associated with many severe neonatal diseases. Glycogen depletion, impaired gluconeogenesis, and increased pe- ripheral use of glucose may also be among the risk factors for hypoglycemia. There is no consensus about the long- term complications caused by transient hypoglycemia. However, severe recurrent hypoglycemia may cause sus- tained neurological problems such as seizures and mental retardation (6-9). Calcium is one of the body electrolytes that plays a Copyright © 2020, Hormozgan Medical Journal. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits copy and redistribute the material just in noncommercial usages, provided the original work is properly cited.