Pattern of morbidity and mortality in the emergency paediatric unit of a tertiary hospital in North-Eastern Nigeria
Keywords:
Emergency Paediatrics Unit, Mortality, Morbidity, OutcomeAbstract
Background: Since 1990, there has been a global decline in infant and child mortality rates attributed to various public health interventions. However, developing countries, especially those in Sub-Saharan Africa and South-East Asia, have the worst indices of childhood mortality.
Objectives: This study aims to describe the causes of mortality, morbidity, and the outcomes of care provided to children seen in the emergency paediatric unit of the Federal University of Health Sciences Teaching Hospital, Azare.
Methods: This was a retrospective, cross-sectional study. All children aged 1 month to 15 years seen at the emergency paediatric unit of our hospital from January 1 to December 31, 2024, were recruited. Data was analysed with IBM SPSS version 21 software.
Results: A total of 2973 children were admitted in the year under review, with an age range of 1 month to 15 years. The median (Interquartile range) age was 3.0 (6.5) years, with most children (60.6%) aged less than 5 years and a male predominance of 1720 (57.9%). The common causes of morbidity were severe malaria 871(29.3%), SAM 414(13.9%) and SCD 347(11.7%) while severe malaria 93(30.0%), SAM 62(20.0%) and pneumonia 27(8.7%) were the commonest causes of mortality. The unit had an overall mortality rate of 10.4%. The majority of admissions occurred during the rainy season, 1293(43.5%).
Conclusion: Infections, especially malaria, remain a significant cause of morbidity and mortality amongst children in our study. Improvements in the area of health workforce, emergency preparedness, and health insurance for all may help stem the tide.
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Data Availability Statement
Data can be made available on request from the corresponding author.
