Morbidity And Mortality Pattern In A Children Emergency Room In Calabar, Nigeria.

Abstract

Background: Nearly 8 million children under age five died worldwide in 2010. Tragically, more than half of these childhood deaths are preventable with existing tools and interventions. Poor countries bear a disproportionate burden of child mortality where children are more than 10 times more likely to die before reaching the age of five - this is unacceptable. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations in 2015 aims to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all children in the world. The study aims to document the morbidity and mortality pattern seen at the Children Emergency Room (CHER) of the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH), Calabar.

Patients and Method: A retrospective study of all ill children admitted into CHER form 1^st January to 31^st  December 2012. The records were reviewed from the admission register and information retrieved included the patients age, sex, diagnosis and outcomes which in this case were discharge, transfer out, Discharge Against Medical Advice(DAMA), Absconded and death.

Results: A total of 2,621 patients were admitted,1,567 (59.8%) were males and 1,051 (40.1%) females with M:F of 1.4:1. Patients below five years constituted 81.9% of cases. The common indications for admission were respiratory tract Infection, Malaria, Diarrhoeal diseases, HBSS crisis, Septicaemia and Central Nervous System (CNS) Infections. The common causes of mortality were Septicaemia, Severe malaria, Pneumonia, CNS Infections. The mortality rate was 2.0%, compared to 5% in an earlier study in the same center by Antia-Obong, with 61.5% being among children less than one year old. The discharge against medical advice (DAMA) rate was 3.8% and 71.9% of the patients left the unit with 72 hours.

Conclusion: childhood mortality rate is high, worse in poor countries were children are more likely to die from preventable diseases. There is a decline in mortality rate in the current study but governmentneed to address air pollution in Calabar and strengthen its secondary health care to support the Children Emergency Room and commit to the Sustainable development Goals (SDG) in the battle for our children survival.